genisis angeal It isn't dumb when I'm taking care of those half ghoul; half human investigators every time, and one is even a fucking douche bag who doesn't care for anyone but his fucking award badges, but at least the other one is fucking cute, and I don't mind pampering her. On the other hand, I have to worry about this little white haired shit in my mind who claims to be me in the past, and wants his _body_ back. Like what the fuck, man? While saying all that, I have to come up with puns to impress Akira, and I gotta check that chick out in the RE coffee shop, but her brother kinda scares me. So, with all of the stress happening right now, and my hair is turning white again, this explains why I couldn't come up with any shits. Also, that mask in your profile picture is some weird shit, because I visited the shop owner who sent me it, and he's creepy as fuck, having tattooed eyes and all that. But obviously, I'm not buying that shit, because I know he's a ghoul.
Literally just throw up words onto the page. You're too wound up on masterfully weaving perfect sentence after perfect sentence. You gotta rig your brain to be ready to write utter shit for a little while at least. A terrible trick that is played on the mind when you look at these masters, these creative masters, is your mind plays this trick that they just one day strut their way all smooth, no bumps along the way, into being amazing. Truth is, they wrote/created MOUNTAINS of SHIT with maybe some pebbles of gold for a long time. You must realize. Every. Single. One. Was. Terrible. Maybe at the *very* best, they were mediocre to start. Some have some talent yes, but hard work, and never ending, no excuses balls to the wall every god. damn. day practice beats that shit to the ground. Just get over yourself thinking that if you wait till the right moment of "inspiration" you'll craft pure literary gold. You gotta shovel yourself out of the cold ground for 2 years just to breathe air, and many more years till you get into the sky to look down. But don't think about that, your world is the next word your writing. Your focus is on the letter your punching in. Everything else will fall in place. I've shot photography for 10 years and the first 2 years hold basically NOTHING that I would hold in high regard with what I've shot now. But I wouldn't be anywhere without those 2 years of shooting garbage. Actually most of my favourite work came from about 4 years of shooting and on. You gotta pay your dues. And it's a hard thing to realize your favourite work a year into your creative endeavour is crap, but it should only dawn on you because the stuff you're making now you couldn't have made back then. You ever read early Bukowski? It's clunky, amateur, doesn't read well and it's hard to connect or relate to much. But that fucker wrote pretty much every goddamn day, and he *was* his style. He totally embodied and owned it. The last poem in Love is A Dog from Hell? It's a goddamn masterpiece, but it wasn't written in a vacuum. That poem came after probably 20 years of writing and practice. And if he wrote at a conservative estimate every 3rd day (he wrote unbelievably consistently, I mean everyday), that's 2,433 days of writing. But he wrote pretty much every fucking day, so it's likely upwards of 7000 days of writing. I'm just trying to get it in your head, just write anything. It doesn't matter, just fucking punch keys and you're over the hardest part. Seriously. Make it a goal at this stage to just write a piece of crap, because that's infinitely, not exagerrating, infinitely better than writing nothing. Good luck yo.
I do to, although I usually jot down important scenes and details for it first, then build up the story by writing transitions for those scenes to fill in the gaps. I had one last night about a kitten however it was depressing as hell.
1. Base your story on a real-life occurrence: Something that has happened to you or someone you know. 0:48 2. Do a mash-up of two (or more) different story genres. 1:42 3. Build your story on a "what if" scenario. 3:00 4. If you have a character but not a story, try to tell a "day in the life" of that character. 4:30 5. Think of a single scene, then "reverse-engineer" a story to get you to that scene. 5:35 6. Keep an eye out for interesting news stories. There's a reason why so many movies are "based on a true story." 6:28 7. Begin by copying a favorite book or movie, then change it until it becomes a very different story. 7:28 8. Start with a location that interests you, then write about a person that lives in that location. 8:41 9. Don't just watch TV, study TV. (Or books, movies, etc.) 9:39 10. Just start writing! Often a great story can emerge even when you're totally making it up as you go along. 10:43
the last one is honestly so true, every time i have a story idea and i write its like all ideas i could ever think of just come pouring in and i can sit there for hours and just write
KanadeTachibana what works for me is sitting down with a beer and a friend, and just start talking about story ideas. take notes whem something cool comes up.
"The real enemy of a writer is procrastination." I don't think that has ever been more true than it is for me. I've built up such a sense of importance and weight directed towards anything I write that, while I enjoy working on them, I have something akin to anxiety when it actually comes to writing. And when I think about it, the things I have written were all mostly on a whim with a lose idea of the story and what I wanted from it. It really helped to hear that. Thank you.
+OnyxScorpion I think that's prevalent in all forms of art, really. An aspiring writer myself, I've spent the past few years making big life decisions with writing in mind and trying so hard to justify my so-called talent in writing. Ultimately, I realised I've spent more time talking about writing than actually writing. Hope we both can get off of this boat in the near future. All the best in your writing endeavours!
***** Same to you. I've actually written some bits of narrative for personal projects since I posted this. All rough cut though with only some skin through edits, but it's progress. Still kinda bouncing around between my concepts, but it's all good practice and helps balance out my voice, which is something I want to do before I try to take on some more ambitious projects that I really hope to be known for.
I've shot photography for over 10 years now (This comment will tie into writing I promise). I learned the 3 basic, foundation things you need to know to take a photo (shutter speed, aperture, ISO), and I just started shooting. I would shoot and shoot and review, I would see what I liked, think about what I didn't like etc.. I would just shoot and shoot, without any overbearing worry about getting it "perfect" right away. Obviously I'd do my best, but don't get paralyzed by perfectionism. Over time from the consistent practice and weighing the things I did well and what to improve on, I carved out my own sort of style. I never watched how-to videos, tips and tricks videos, or read any books on it. The only input I got was looking at the photography of the masters, and breaking it down myself. This is essentially exactly what needs to be done in writing, to become a more interesting, skilled, compelling, distinct writer. But for me, it just doesn't come as easily as it did with photography. Obviously they are very different crafts, it's easy to just snap photos, which doesn't mean it's easy to take breath-taking, unique photos. But for me, practicing photography came much easier than practicing my writing. I believe the same technique of learning for photos can be applied to writing. Practice, practice, practice, and read the greats. Read the greats and think about what made it good. I'm not against going to classes if that's your thing, but some people replace their entire practicing with trying to just gobble up more and more and more information on it. Just get a few basics and practice the craft itself. With any creative skill, there's only so much advice, tips etc... you can do before you're at the tip of the cliff and you just have to dive off and do it. Whether your a fan of Bukowski or not, he's a perfect example of just fucking writing and writing and writing and writing. And write some more, and he embodied his style with such monumental confidence. It was HIS style through sheer practice. I think some artists get it in their head that they need other people or classes to tell them how to progress, how to become them. But in reality, in my opinion, I think the best input and the best organic, high quality growth comes from practice. In the end it's as simple as that.
But procrastinating's the only thing I'm good at... +Drew Funny you should say that. I too am a photographer and I can go months, or even a year without picking up a camera (It's happened only a couple times) and take better photos than the ones my classmates from photography class are posting on their social media. I honestly had to allow myself to realize that, on account that I'm super critical of my work, not that I actually go around saying I'm better than other people. Anyhow, I think what it is, is that I decided early on that I wanted to shoot photos and started out with disposable cameras. Then, I got a point and shoot digital one and took photos with that. What I suppose I'm trying to say is that before I'd ever gotten into a class and heard the word "Aperture" or even picked up a DSLR, I'd taken over 20,000 photos. With all the trial and error that comes along with that experience. Be it angles, lighting or settings, etc. Whereas my classmates basically just bought a DSLR and showed up to class. Namely as they thought it'd be an easy class but then began to love photography... however one makes it to the party, whatever. So they're kind of in the same spot on that curve right now, where I was when we were in class. The irony being that as I actually write books, people always ask me "Oh, what's the best way to get into that, or do it?" The only honest answer I can give them is "By doing it. There's literally no shortcuts. Believe me, I've tried to find some. However, you do it by just doing it." It sounds like a real "No duh" answer, I know... but it's kind of the answer I wish I'd gotten ten years ago.
Yeah I started on a little point and shoot digital, then a DSLR for a few years, and I've stayed with film now because it just fits how I shoot, i.e no batteries to charge, you can get really quick and proficient with changing f-stop and shutter, and estimating how far you want your focal point which I find really good for street photography. I have a K-X with a pancake 40mm lens, such a small lens. When doing street photography, people also seem a little less tense because if it's obviously a film camera you're using, you must be shooting for artistic reasons. I eventually also got sick of going through huge swaths of photos, doing photoshop contrast etc... to my images. So I shoot Delta 100 @ 200 for natural contrast, and Ektar for colour and I do my best to make the moment I snap to be the final image. I eventually decided I was fine with sarificing some portability for quality/sharpness and nowadays I shoot a lot with a Pentax 67 with the 105mm 2.4. Beautiful images. Now I've been thinking about trying to optimize the portablity along with quality so looking at a Hasselblad. And at this moment it feels like a natural decision. Not like when you're starting out and just want awesome cameras cause they're awesome and have cool names and wanting gear just to have gear. Anyone who asks me about photography (like with your writing), I give a quick run down on shutter speed, f-stop, ISO and tell them thats it go shoot as much as you can and stay persistent, cause you're gonna fuck up some shots you were excited for, and you'll find some gems you thought were crap. It's a great way to spend you're time, and to look at the world. Anyway I know you know this haha. The thing I noticed from the people who went to art school. If they went in mediocre, they come out maybe slightly better? If they go in already killer, they can really improve. But the most noticeable thing was most of them were better at selling their art. Much better than me cause just shoot it scan it, put the sleeve in a binder and keep going. And lastly, they say to do what you love and you won't work a day blah blah... I'd say about 80% or more of the commercial work I've done I haven't been particularly stoked for, espcially a number of hours in. Idk maybe a different form of it would work. The only way to figure these things out for yourself as an artist is to go through!!
My problem is not struggling to create characters or even story ideas, but just working on it enough to finish it. It's a problem I've had since junior high, where I've had an idea for a story or character, I'd draw or write it, and then, because it didn't come out as quickly as I liked, I dropped the whole thing. And this would happen over and over again. I'm writing and drawing a comic now (or trying to), and I'm exercising a lot more patience in this process, but I'm curious if you have any advice on persistently writing and/or just finishing the story. Granted, comics are not my main passion these days, but it's still something I care about and enjoy doing and I would like to prove to myself that I can at least finish one story.
Mickwhitefire28 Same. I can think up lots of ideas and characters, even starting a story for them. I tend to lose interest quickly though, perhaps because I have to limit my ideas to allow the story to flow, make sense and keep interest. Perhaps it's more a case of I'm not really invested in the ideas as much as I think I am. I like the ideas, but don't have the motivation to expand or write for them. I've had one idea that has had multiple changes, but the overall idea is the same, and I've written up many characters and basic plot points, but when it comes to writing the actual story I still find myself withdrawing after only a couple of pages. I think it's probably because I don't like writing what, to me, will seem boring; you know, normal situations that the characters need to go through to get to exciting points.
I feel the same way, and it gets frustrating when you want to put something on paper and it's not going the way you want or like. I think that you should storyboard the comic first and then move it on to paper. It might makes the prosess feel much faster for you. Just a thought, cheers :D
Mickwhitefire28 I had that problem in elementary school. I have a similar problem now. I can't focus on my stories too often, I'm always getting wrapped up in other things, jumping from one thing to the next. It's been months and I'm only on the second chapter of my story, but after a lot of daydreaming in school I have about 20 more in my head.
Mickwhitefire28 I've been there, bud. Something that kept me going on my comic was to set a different goal each time you start a new chapter/ one shot. Lets say you start chapter one and your first goal is to just focus on completing your first chapter(trust me, as a motivator, it's definitely more effective than it sounds). Then in your second chapter you decide to focus on improving the artwork, then paneling, etc, so you almost always have a reason to continue until you're so far into it that there's just no reason to quit anymore. Personal experience :)
Mickwhitefire28 I've had the same problem ever since I started writing (not finishing stories). What has helped me is, first of all, to outline the story. I do it as quickly and simplified as possible so I wont forget my ideas the next day. Then, I start writing the actual story, but there's often a temptation to get started writing something else as soon as I get another idea, or to go back to writing one of my older stories again. The distraction of other ideas has always been my problem, but I finally found a way to deal with it. I combine my new/old story ideas with the story I'm currently writing. I can't always do that (like if I'm writing a medieval fantasy and the idea involves modern technology), but if I CAN fit the idea somewhere into my current story, then I'm happy, and no longer wanting to abandon my project for a new story. I hope this will help; I'm not sure if you're the same way about this or not... One last tip is to make a computer folder, Pinterest board, or something else with lots of pictures and other things that relate to your story. They can inspire you when you're loosing interest in the story, and maybe spark some new ideas :)
For me music works just great, I could come up with a story just by hearing a melody, but most of the time it is a very brief story and my problem is I don't know how to deliver it as I imagine it. Since I make videos I have to think of things I don't know how to use like editing and directing, my problem is the viewer's position, while I'm thinking of a story I don't know where the viewer should be, should it be on the side of the character? In front? On the other side of the room? No idea what I should be focusing on for the scene to bring the energy I want to the part I want. It's pretty frustrating and that's why i've held the stories I like until I know how to manage that sort of stuff.
+D3NlS5E you could try looking up directing tutorials online. Or like he said, study your favorite shows or movies and see what they did and think of why they did that. Read their biographies, see what inspired them.
Take this with an extremely small, atom sized grain of salt, because I have no experience with directing or creating anything in this area. But, when I think of a scene/story/etc, I always see it in my mind from the position I'd want to create it in. So from that, my advice would be, don't necessarily think about where the viewer is/watching from. Think of it more as which position you feel would have the most impact/which would help you convey what you want/need to convey. For example, a scene where the protagonist is sad to the point of breaking into tears. You wouldn't want to draw some random tree. You'd draw a close-up on the face so the emotion of the protagonist is shown. Or maybe the protagonist's best friend died and there's a tree or type of flower or some other object relevant to the two of them. You could draw the object of importance without showing the protagonist's face accompanied by the protagonist's crying/whaling/screaming/etc. As long as it helps hammer home the scene, it's up to personal choice. At least, that's the conclusion I've come to through my own inexperience.
I know this is old,but I still want to reply... In my personal experience,I always writes it down.It's actually really hard for me to think about stories purely by thinking. Writing can help me organize them easily,remember them,and at the end form a nice storyline. And if it's a video,try to draw the frame down.It's okay if they are only stick man,as long as they can help you to really see the effects.
The most important thing isn't how good he is, but how good you want to become. If you're just sitting there in envy, you'll probably not reach the goal to have those skills on your own.
#10 reminds me of a great quote I heard once, and it's very true. "Great books aren't written, they're edited". Basically, just throw your story down first. The first draft is gonna be bad. You can make it good when you have something to actually improve upon!
Man, I literally just searched "how to draw poses" yesterday, and your channel came up. I searched "How to write a good story" today, and your channel just popped up AGAIN.
Marckrilley I'm so inspired of you an I don't know whether your reading this but if you are than feel pride in how much you inspire people. My older brother made a successful comic and got paid and it was published just because of you and I'm making my own. As a conclusion I would like to say "Thank You"
Current Comics: G.L.I.T.C.H (Glitching Like Interdimensional Travelers Coming Here) Genre(s):Sci-fi,Action,Comedy In the galaxy (MINOR SPOILER CENSOR) a young innocent (IMPORTANT SPOILER CENSOR) accidentally falls on the black hole while helping a stranger that teleports him to (MINOR SPOILER CENSOR) and was made a Glitch by an unknown person Dawg from the Hood Genre(s):Comedy,Fantasy Jesus Christ developed a new personality but accidentally absorbs it. He became a rebel and thug. He never gave the personality anymore. He made his name backwards (Dog) then made it more gangster-ish He is officially known as Dawg Exception: Genre(s):Horror,Drama Two boys escape from a mental asylum and everything was okay until they saw a "hallucination" and other hallucinations and then they realize that they forgot their pills 9 years ago. They tried but stopped by (MAJOR SPOILER CENSOR) but successfully took it. Until one night (MINOR SPOILER CENSOR) saw a hallucination and realize that their pills was stolen. Will they find the thief?
As an experienced Manga artist I can say most of the ideas come from random occurances in my life and dreams I may have. What I'm saying is if you can't come up with an idea, take a look at your own life and things your interested in. And make a hybrid story from it, including dreams you have too.
Coming up with a plot is sometimes the trickiest part for me. What usually happens for me (And I actually did this last night) is i'll be at my desk for a few hours, browsing different youtube videos or shows on netflix (I like crime/thriller/horror so I like to watch shows like forensic files). I'll also do some history researching and science-y stuff (I spent about 50 minutes studying the sleep cycle and sleepwalking last night). While I do this, a thought will pop in my head, i'll write it down, and eventually the ball just really gets rolling. I write down my thought process, the questions I ask myself. Usually i'll iron something out and I have something to work with.
Your whole 10 Tips series based on Brody's Ghost is a HUGE help. I'm developing my webcomic and sometimes I hit a wall when it comes to figuring out the right way to draw a scene, what information to show and hold back, coming up with interesting ideas and mostly what makes good dialogue. Thanks a lot :D
+markcrilley I'm an author, and I run into the problem of starting a novel and then halfway through get a story idea and start writing that one. Do you get this problem when creating your books?
Developing a character is like feeding an animal information they never knew about and hope for them to grow up and be the pet you want them to be. Or more so as in, always have a plan, a straight line of either events, people they meet, things they do, personality trait plays a big role in this too! just make sure you're always developing them, it takes time and time again to help them climb that ladder. Basically, a kitten growing up to be a strong kitten! haha :b
@@msbunny753 *Or take that idea literally and spin it so "feeding information" to that "animal" becomes dark/serious metaphor for child indoctrination and abusive relationships, congratulations, now you just made your very own "dEeP" story!* Oh and I know am bit late to comment here but just wanted to
Number 5 is the bane of my creative process. In stories I want to write, I have plenty of scenes that I think are great and solid, but I am incredibly frustrated and unable to link the major scenes together. I just can't devise a decent buildup and what happens in between. it has stagnated the development of my favorite story idea for almost 7 years now.
I was I this trap too, it helps to try and explain your story to people as best you can and your brain will often make up connections automatically. But, if it's still problematic, it may be time to rewrite the story to pace better.
The fun thing I do in my dream-based writing is to try and take similar scenery from different dreams and piece all the similarly themed dream environments into one region, eg. all the dreams about abandoned factories are placed into a city's industrial estate etc.
I do to, although I usually jot down important scenes and details for it first, then build up the story by writing transitions for those scenes to fill in the gaps. I had one last night about a kitten however it was depressing as hell.
Then don't learn to lucid dream, because lke 85-90% of the time, the moment you become fully lucid, the events/activity of the dream can sometimes just halt and you're just kind of in a dream. Although I've had some crazy surprises in my lucid dreams, which would make for good writing material
I've been thinking about creating some comics and animations but I wanted to create the plot first and I've been having some trouble coming up with some ideas. This is an extremely helpful video. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much man!!! I've been working on a game for a while and I've got through story after story but your tips have helped me realize so much. I could never thank you enough.
+markcrilley man it helped me a lot ! 4 n 10 were just the tips i needed planing to write a fab story now! Hope it turns good n yeah i want to read your ones where can i get it?
I use my broken insanity meter: Multi world's, future and past collide, supernatural abilities, books of magic, missions to save the world, kids trying to live their lives but have to make the decision where their place is in the multi worlds, death, chaos, friendship, screaming, and infinite main characters lives furious and hungry.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to make videos on storytelling and art along with your books! They've assisted me in drawing and writing my plots as well. I'm fairly young, and I've always been inspired to make a comic series. After many attempts of trying again and again to come up with a plot that would rope you in, I used your advice on creating a world around a character. I'm working on a plot line that was created using this advice, and in my opinion, it's better than any of my others. :) Thanks.
I watched this so you don't have to! :-) 1. Base your story on a real-life occurrence - something that has happened to you or someone you know. 2. Do a mash-up of 2 or more story genres 3. Build your story on a what-if scenario 4. If you have a character but not a story, try to tell the day in the life of that character 5. Think of a single scene and then reverse-engineer a story to get you to that scene 6. Keep an eye out for interesting news stories to base your story off 7. Begin by copying your favorite book or movie, then change it until it becomes something completely different 8. Start with a location that interests you, then write about a person who lives in that location 9. Don't just watch TV, study it 10. Just start writing! Often a great story can emerge even if you are completely making it up as you go along
getting it tomorrow no matter the price, time to shock my family by sitting still while i enjoy that story thanks again for the awesome story and consistent help you provide for people to make theyer own :D
I often take a look at my earlier stories whenever i need an idea for a story, especially the first ones, as they are basically "sandwiches" composed of story ideas and violence. i mean, there is this wizard in a secret security agency, then there is a fight, then the wizard is a robot from the future, more violence and all of a sudden demons...
I'm looking at coming up with methods for story writing for video games I use this video for references quite often. when I'm trying to think up experiences and I really appreciate the effort put into this series.
Mark, I have to agree with many other comments on here that your work and these motivational videos are so inspiring. I have to say that I could just sit and listen to you for hours. Thank you for all you are doing.
Some people don't take Shia Labeouf's motivational speech serious... I think that motivational speech is very true and can help you get further in life... Just as Mark said: "Just start writing", just do it, nothing is impossible!
8:08 Ya know, I like the sound of that! I feel I'm a lil better at writing fanfic than I do at forming my own stories, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit. But that's a neat approach.
"What if there was a type of humans that could manipulate organic matter like clay?" "What if the gods are devils put under controll and that controll is fading?" This is the two what if's I could sum up my curresnt idea up with.
As an amateur author, I have to say that this video really helped inspire me, not only to keep coming up with new stories but also on how to continue stories that I've already been working on. The advice on not getting stress about stories not being 100% original was like that moment when you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.
Mark, I have watched you since high school (c/o 2011) to learn drawing. Now I am working on a comic book of my own, because I feel my art has developed well enough. Here I am, years later, coming upon your channel again to get fantastic advice, again. Thank you for caring so much about other artists out there. You have really impacted my artistic journey! :)
Thanks a lot for the advice, Crilley, I shall keep all this stuff in mind! ^^ I've got a few stories I'm working on myself, But I think my biggest problem is actually *sitting down and focusing!* I have no clue how to make myself want to write or draw even. If only it was so simple, eh? Thanks again for the advice!
I find music to have a greater impact on my storytelling, I'm way more descriptive when I'm listening to music that fits the tone and where I am in the story. For example, if my character is feeling sad and lonely, feeling ignored and betrayed to the point of her breaking point, I'd listen to classical piano [Crystal Winter - Christopher Ferreria] that usually gets me in the mood of typing out really descriptive words and sentences, it puts me in my character's place. I'm always very passionate about my writing and word choice but when listening to music it really puts me on a deeper level with my writing. Another example is a badass scene, I'd put on Taylor Swift, or something that's very fast and lighting. As well as when someone is heartbroken, I'd put on a heartbreak song. Either way, it's how I am. It sometimes gets me writing/drawing for up to an hour, listening to the music and nodding my head to it all, it's really handy. Hope this helps! ^^
I'm honestly not a very creative guy, but it is my dream to become a comic book creator one day, I'd like to say that this really helps out, mainly because, I have the most trouble with coming up with interesting ideas. While I'm not very creative, I still believe that everyone has the ability to think of a story, and if you work hard you can make that story good.
***** Totally. A few months ago i couldnt draw anything. But i worked very hard and now im pretty good at drawing and even found my own unique style and im working on my first manga. You can achieve everything you want! :)
***** Everybody is creative in some way or another I think. You just need to find the right way that makes you tick, for example try and observe your everyday life, people you walk past by every morning, objects that are there everyday that can be base to some amazing story. Just pay attention to your surroundings and ideas will eventually start just popping out. I as for that matter, use everything that's around me everyday to try and make into story ideas and they just pop in my head at random times. Also one of the ways that works best for me is trying to imagine myself as a character of some world I have created in my mind and write the story in a way that I, myself would like live it and go through it - That in my case is probably the best way to approach creating stories. You just need to find your own way and you'll create some good stories. Remember for when you were a kid you were creative as hell and this creativity faded away as you grew older, but that doesn't mean it can't come back. So good luck to you.
***** "I still believe that everyone has the ability to think of a story, and if you work hard you can make that story good." Hear hear! And good luck to ya!
markcrilley sorry I have to ask here, my phone will not allow me to make my own comment and attach your name. So I have this idea that I am very into but I have never experienced. I want, in the end, the main character to kill the other against their own will. My what if was what if you had to kill someone you loved without any free will. But I do not know how to illustrate that since it is very difficult for someone to experience that. Should I give that idea up or just try to best illustrate the emotions as realistically as possible?
One of the biggest things that gets my creative juices flowing is Roleplaying online with other people. Creating stories over time with one other person or a group of other people really helps me get ideas for stories. Like, if something in an RP really clicks I can be like "oh hey. That would be cool if this would have happened instead" or "hmmm what if this world was a bit different than what the RP author has intended"
I saw a post once that said if you are writing a story ask yourself the two questions, “What do I want the protagonist to achieve,” and,”How do I stop them from reaching that goal?” I think this just makes the whole process so much more simple in my opinion
Another honorable mention that I found helped me when I was just starting out is. "Not every bit of the world or setting for your story needs to be known before you can write it" I constantly found myself writing great worlds, even creation of all things and how every little thing came to be... that I would never actually get around to writing my actual 'story'.
Your comment about getting too uptight about planning everything out was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you for this video, time to finally sit down and write.
I like to combine the genres "Slice of Life" with Fantasy (and a little cute comedy, since I can't stand painfully sad stories...) Most of my main "What if" scenarios come from my dreams. I tend to get some fantastic dreams, and usually write down the ones I remember most, add a little more to it's concept, and make characters for those stories. It's quite fun!
PixiePrincess501 I always have great Ideas when I don't have notebook on me :'D Sometimes I'm lucky enough to be able to remember and write it down, but mostly it just vanished from my brain X'D
“Base it on a real life occurrence.” My: “I was sitting down on my phone under my sheets doing until time and everything with it froze....except me.” It includes a scene where The Main character sees a frozen man with ice cream and he takes it and eats it. It also includes a scene where he walks in a school with the whole class frozen and the teachers are frozen. And then he kind of experiments with the things around him. He has to find a way to unfreeze time.
There are a couple of things I like to do to improve my own stuff. I often get ideas by curling up in a corner, listening to music, and playing a mindless repetitive little block game on my phone for an hour. I also ask myself "Why?" a lot. If I don't have a good answer, the idea is scrapped or changed until I can come up with a plausible cause-effect. This often results in me coming up with newer or improved results of things, and helps me keep to the boundaries I set for my world. Building my characters along with my world helps a ton too. I love writing backstories that match the worldbuilding so I know what I'm working with. I also tend to come up with deep spiritual parallels with my work to help me. Oftentimes stuff I write has a deep meaning behind it, and I use that parallel to channel ideas to represent what I'm trying to get across.
I have a ton of overflowing ideas, but I'm having a hard time picking a certain path for my story to follow out of all my ideas for the later parts of the plot. Any tips would be really appreciated
@markcrilley, what you said at 8:07min really suprised me, since i didn't expect you to have your own master. In fact YOU are the master of Manga for ME (and propably many viewers as well). Thank you so much for sharing your experience and giving all those advices, they help me alot because we have a similar (realistic) drawing style. I admire your work!
I love your advice! I am currently a senior in college going for a film degree and we are taught structure and set rules for writing scripts and whatnot. I, hate conforming and one of my friends and I usually bend the rules and do things not quite "kosher" to the set rules. I'm glad there is a successful story teller, such as yourself, that teaches your viewers to think outside the box and there there is no right or wrong way to do things!
Hey Mark i have been watching your videos for years and i got to say this is my favorite video ! i love this tips series and i would like to see more of this ! keep on with the great work !
You know, I find it interesting that you mentioned "Reverse engineering a scene you think of". It's VERY much how I work. It just comes more natural; I lie in bed and think of this happy, dramatic, heart breaking, or etc. type of scene, and then I think of everything before and after that point. (I'm currently in the midst of working on my own original manga and your videos and books are a REALLY big help. You are a talented and generous man Mr. Crilley :3).
Thank you so much. This really helped me a lot. I am trying to develop an indie video game and I was having trouble coming up with a story. For many months, all I had were a few original characters and 12 original soundtracks, and I knew they told a certain type of story all together, but it just took me a long time to find it. Now, thanks to this video, I am now overwhelmed with the amount of stories I DO have rather than the ones I don't, and that is very helpful for me. I came up with a great story by forming at least one idea for every one of your methods, than I weaved them all into one. You really helped me. Thank you!
I have A.D.D. and have been struggling to write a story. I know what kind of story I want to make, but I'm not good at getting it from point A to point B. I'm a more visual person in general, so the challenge is to get a visual person with a short attention span to create entire universes with his mind. Every now and then I'll have an idea and can create a general outline of the events I want to take place. It took me a while, but I finally came up with a system. When I was in middle school I drew comics. I didn't have any sort of system, I would just draw a panel outline and filled it with whatever came to mind in that instant. I didn't think, I just drew. Needless to say the stories weren't very good, but I got the plot to progress. My current system is to create a rough outline of scenes and events I want to happen. Then I take it to paper and instinctively draw the gritty little details with that outline in mind. The story I create this way might not be very good or flow very well, but at least now I have a visual aid to work with. From this rough draft of my work, I can make revisions and slowly transform the story into the one I imagined. Maybe this idea can help anyone else out there with a similar problem.
Syntherus That reminds me of my friend with A.D.H.D who also struggled with comics for the same reason, she decided to start with shorter, simpler comics, slowly building up to more complex drawings, then plot improvements, etc. She also started with writing about her day to day experiences with A.D.H.D.
markcrilley I can't remember if I asked yet but can you help draw a slow dance scene that is just not something I'm good at, I'm just fine at Manga but poses are hard 4 me
My art teacher said one day a interesting thing about Salvador Dalí that I think can be very useful. When we, people that love writing (or/and drawing!!), sleep, and before that, we usually keep thinking about scenes, facts, sceneries, nonsense things, stories and such. Dali sit on a chair, with a plate on the floor besides it, under his arm. Then he would hold a metal spoon over the plate and relax his body, almost falling asleep. When that happen, he ended up dropping the spoon on the plate, waking up because of the sound. That's one of the ways he could have those crazy ideas to paint about. Creativity flows a lot in this first sleep state.
I went through this sort of transition phase back in my mid-teens during which I was coming up with these AU-fics for Danny Phantom. As I was writing one of them I realized that, with a few minor tweaks of the details, the story would work much better as an original story. The first chapter of that story is probably one of my favorites too. :D It's really got nothing in common with the series I originally wrote it for aside from similarities in the main characters. Even then, they have distinguishing traits that make them quite different from the Danny Phantom characters they were based upon. Fanfiction is definitely a good way to start building an original story. Personally, I think fanfiction is sort of like the training grounds for writing original fiction. Working with already-developed characters and premises can help an author focus more on the actual story than on developing characters to go with it. It also helps to learn what sort of genre you're best at as an author, what sort of stories you like to write, et cetera. I rarely write fanfiction nowadays but I know that it definitely helped me when it came to crafting my own worlds and characters. :)
Arendade Practice drawing, and more important than that, practice sequential art. In other words, even if you don't think it looks great at first, start comic-ing early and often. Best way to practice, IMO
Get into the habit of starting with the base and doing details later. I started off the wrong way, and it's a hard habit to break. Also, learn where to shade sooner rather than later. :)
A lot of famous mangaka start as an ordinary people who like to draw and tell story. They've had so much series that no one know before. Most of those manga don't have good arts and/or story. They were like you, and like me, too. So don't give up and keep going If you _really_ want to be a mangaka!
I've been working on my comic for over 5 years; its been rewritten, redrawn, re-realized to oblivion. And it's not just the story but as well as the enriching lore and history that centralizes the main idea of the world. Story separate as it deals with more personal issues. There is a fine difference between lore and story, but with both coming together it creates a larger and more intricate and compelling overall narrative. Right now I'd say I'm only 10% to its full realization.
I own Mark's book of "Mastering Manga" and it truthfully is extrememly helpful. Mark, you are SO good at drawing and i want you to know... There is no one i'd rather learn anime or manga from then you! Stay awesome! and keep doing what your doing!
I'm going to study in an art school this september and i'm super stressed do you have any advices for me? I already got your book about manga ^^ love your videos
KatawoK You're going to fail end of story, just as I have. Look at me now, look at me now, look at me now, ..... I've ended up here, telling people they're going to fail.
KatawoK You're going to fail end of story, just as I have. Look at me now, look at me now, look at me now, ..... I've ended up here, telling people they're going to fail.
#10 is totally true! I got bored in language arts one day and started trying a story, and three years and four different versions of said story later, I'm 170 pages in on the best version yet!
I have been trying to create a story for my character and about 5 minutes in when you said to tell a story of a day in the life of your character it really had me thinking and i think i have the perfect story for my character. i have no idea on how to thank you.
5:35 I use this a lot without even thinking about it, especially when I listen to music, seeing my characters fighting eachother and then a story builds on how they got to that point. Pretty cool. I then try to contextualize it so that it makes sense into the main line of the story
This just helps even more. Honestly I want to make manga for a living, it's my dream and markcrilley you videos on how to draw manga actually let me do a dream that I feel like I can fully develop. A lot of your videos and this one book has helped draw half decent characters(still need work on the body though and everything else) but I still have a long way. So yeah thank you. Sorry it's such a huge comment I just wanted to thank you. markcrilley
When I make comic storys i get to uptight about the style of art. So I just start doing frames with the characters drawn in a super cartoony simplistic way. I get to discover the characters and play around with the fundamentals of each character, rather then worry over the art work. Thanks mark for making these vids!
When he said : A story of western and vampires, I was like "Hmmm..... that sounds like another famous comic book franchise" Cof! Cof! American Vampire cof! XD
#4 is definitely a good thing for me to do. Character creation is probably my biggest strength as a writer, so starting with a day in the life of one of a character I create is probably the best thing for me to try and do.
I cracked a grin when you mentioned Breaking Bad on #9. I'm on my third marathon of the show right now, taking it in as a writer this time and not just a consumer of entertainment. That is some great advice, Mark, as is the rest. Thanks for taking time out to make these videos for us.
All of these are really really helpful! I'm aiming to become a Mangaka in the future (nowhere near that goal as of right now) and I've been really worried about coming up with a plot for it. My favorite piece of advice that seems interesting and most likely could work for me is the working backwards tip. Often I'll just sit, think up one scene that could be amazing and go to write it, but find myself being like, "Wait, I need to start with the beginning of the story and then get here." By the time I realize that I always throw the idea out and it never comes back to my mind again. Again, thank you for these really helpful tips. I might practice a few of them.
Mark!!!! Thank you for this video! I've had writers' block for the longest time and have been looking for way to get some inspiration. For the past few years (been writing for 5 years) I've been writing my own little stories and now I'm starting to get really serious about writing my own story. I use about 75% of these methods on my own so time to try the other 25%! Thank you again!
My first story took place in the Dragon Ball Z universe. I came up with my own character and story but weaved it into the DBZ world. I later dropped it simply because I thought no matter how "good" this story can be, it will always be a fan comic. But after watching this, I'm thinking of working on it again. I never realized that I could just simply change the world until it was one of my own. Thanks for the vid!!
One thing I do very often when writing stories is listening to music and imagine scenes that take place based on the song. What is this song about and how can I apply it to my characters? Can this song work as background music for this scene? Sometimes it even starts with just imagining a music video for that song. Whenever I feel like I need to get inspired I try to find a song to listen to and let my imagination go wild. The thing is that the situation you end up thinking of is very ambiguous so, like you said, you "reverse-engineer" it and then you come up with the backstory for it. The scenes that I imagine the most are fight scenes, so I ask myself: "Why are these characters fighting? Do the have a reason to fight?" For sad music that makes me think of emotional scenes, I ask: "What can make this thing happen? What can make this have a heavier emotional toll on the characters and viewer? Can I add foreshadowing for this?" And everything starts building up and up. It's the best thing that has worked for me
I learn from books and movies and shows all the time! I always catch myself figuring out and breaking stuff down from the story and visual effects and stuff
Thank you so much, Mark! I really needed a video like this because I've been writing a story and I had started to run out of ideas, but then I watched this video, and now I have something in mind for my ending based off of a soap opera I remember my cousin was watching! Thank you! Your videos are helpful as always!
As you were talking about reverse engineering a story, I noticed that you forgot to mention that just because a story starts out going one way and you have an ending planned you may find that you can redirect it towards a different end if the opportunity comes along. I don't like anime but I do recognize it as an art form and accept it as such, but I do have to say the artwork you have shown here is very good. Also I would like to mention that your content isn't just for comic book writers and artists as I am working on a novel and I do design artwork for the characters, places and items, and I find that your videos are very interesting, creative, inspiring and helpful. Look forward to watching and learning from more of your videos in the future.
Me: "Alright! Time to create an interesting story." ~stretches arms and cracks fingers~
~several hours later~
*The*
Sasaki isn't that dumb?
genisis angeal It isn't dumb when I'm taking care of those half ghoul; half human investigators every time, and one is even a fucking douche bag who doesn't care for anyone but his fucking award badges, but at least the other one is fucking cute, and I don't mind pampering her. On the other hand, I have to worry about this little white haired shit in my mind who claims to be me in the past, and wants his _body_ back. Like what the fuck, man? While saying all that, I have to come up with puns to impress Akira, and I gotta check that chick out in the RE coffee shop, but her brother kinda scares me.
So, with all of the stress happening right now, and my hair is turning white again, this explains why I couldn't come up with any shits.
Also, that mask in your profile picture is some weird shit, because I visited the shop owner who sent me it, and he's creepy as fuck, having tattooed eyes and all that. But obviously, I'm not buying that shit, because I know he's a ghoul.
+Haise "Break time!"
Toast spongebob
Literally just throw up words onto the page. You're too wound up on masterfully weaving perfect sentence after perfect sentence. You gotta rig your brain to be ready to write utter shit for a little while at least. A terrible trick that is played on the mind when you look at these masters, these creative masters, is your mind plays this trick that they just one day strut their way all smooth, no bumps along the way, into being amazing. Truth is, they wrote/created MOUNTAINS of SHIT with maybe some pebbles of gold for a long time. You must realize. Every. Single. One. Was. Terrible. Maybe at the *very* best, they were mediocre to start. Some have some talent yes, but hard work, and never ending, no excuses balls to the wall every god. damn. day practice beats that shit to the ground. Just get over yourself thinking that if you wait till the right moment of "inspiration" you'll craft pure literary gold. You gotta shovel yourself out of the cold ground for 2 years just to breathe air, and many more years till you get into the sky to look down. But don't think about that, your world is the next word your writing. Your focus is on the letter your punching in. Everything else will fall in place.
I've shot photography for 10 years and the first 2 years hold basically NOTHING that I would hold in high regard with what I've shot now. But I wouldn't be anywhere without those 2 years of shooting garbage. Actually most of my favourite work came from about 4 years of shooting and on. You gotta pay your dues.
And it's a hard thing to realize your favourite work a year into your creative endeavour is crap, but it should only dawn on you because the stuff you're making now you couldn't have made back then. You ever read early Bukowski? It's clunky, amateur, doesn't read well and it's hard to connect or relate to much. But that fucker wrote pretty much every goddamn day, and he *was* his style. He totally embodied and owned it. The last poem in Love is A Dog from Hell? It's a goddamn masterpiece, but it wasn't written in a vacuum. That poem came after probably 20 years of writing and practice. And if he wrote at a conservative estimate every 3rd day (he wrote unbelievably consistently, I mean everyday), that's 2,433 days of writing. But he wrote pretty much every fucking day, so it's likely upwards of 7000 days of writing. I'm just trying to get it in your head, just write anything. It doesn't matter, just fucking punch keys and you're over the hardest part. Seriously. Make it a goal at this stage to just write a piece of crap, because that's infinitely, not exagerrating, infinitely better than writing nothing.
Good luck yo.
I sometime use my dreams as inspiration
that is really creative!
i use them too
I love people like you :3
+BanetteNightmare :)
I do to, although I usually jot down important scenes and details for it first, then build up the story by writing transitions for those scenes to fill in the gaps. I had one last night about a kitten however it was depressing as hell.
1. Base your story on a real-life occurrence: Something that has happened to you or someone you know. 0:48
2. Do a mash-up of two (or more) different story genres. 1:42
3. Build your story on a "what if" scenario. 3:00
4. If you have a character but not a story, try to tell a "day in the life" of that character. 4:30
5. Think of a single scene, then "reverse-engineer" a story to get you to that scene. 5:35
6. Keep an eye out for interesting news stories. There's a reason why so many movies are "based on a true story." 6:28
7. Begin by copying a favorite book or movie, then change it until it becomes a very different story. 7:28
8. Start with a location that interests you, then write about a person that lives in that location. 8:41
9. Don't just watch TV, study TV. (Or books, movies, etc.) 9:39
10. Just start writing! Often a great story can emerge even when you're totally making it up as you go along. 10:43
TYSM
Thanks!!!
YOU SAVED MY LIFE
the last one is honestly so true, every time i have a story idea and i write its like all ideas i could ever think of just come pouring in and i can sit there for hours and just write
I find myself always just staring at a wall, trying to think of something new.
KanadeTachibana what works for me is sitting down with a beer and a friend, and just start talking about story ideas. take notes whem something cool comes up.
KanadeTachibana Thats me when I'm tired. I daydream a lot so i haven't found making creative ideas hard, unless I'm tired and I go brain dead
(Cat song ) what's with that wall, what are you stairing at my regular wall staring cat,:3
***** yes. Draw the wall
KanadeTachibana morris gleitzman got all his ideas from staring at a wall. There you go, that's something you have in common with a published author.
"The real enemy of a writer is procrastination."
I don't think that has ever been more true than it is for me. I've built up such a sense of importance and weight directed towards anything I write that, while I enjoy working on them, I have something akin to anxiety when it actually comes to writing. And when I think about it, the things I have written were all mostly on a whim with a lose idea of the story and what I wanted from it.
It really helped to hear that. Thank you.
+OnyxScorpion I think that's prevalent in all forms of art, really. An aspiring writer myself, I've spent the past few years making big life decisions with writing in mind and trying so hard to justify my so-called talent in writing. Ultimately, I realised I've spent more time talking about writing than actually writing. Hope we both can get off of this boat in the near future. All the best in your writing endeavours!
***** Same to you. I've actually written some bits of narrative for personal projects since I posted this. All rough cut though with only some skin through edits, but it's progress. Still kinda bouncing around between my concepts, but it's all good practice and helps balance out my voice, which is something I want to do before I try to take on some more ambitious projects that I really hope to be known for.
I've shot photography for over 10 years now (This comment will tie into writing I promise). I learned the 3 basic, foundation things you need to know to take a photo (shutter speed, aperture, ISO), and I just started shooting. I would shoot and shoot and review, I would see what I liked, think about what I didn't like etc.. I would just shoot and shoot, without any overbearing worry about getting it "perfect" right away. Obviously I'd do my best, but don't get paralyzed by perfectionism. Over time from the consistent practice and weighing the things I did well and what to improve on, I carved out my own sort of style. I never watched how-to videos, tips and tricks videos, or read any books on it. The only input I got was looking at the photography of the masters, and breaking it down myself.
This is essentially exactly what needs to be done in writing, to become a more interesting, skilled, compelling, distinct writer. But for me, it just doesn't come as easily as it did with photography. Obviously they are very different crafts, it's easy to just snap photos, which doesn't mean it's easy to take breath-taking, unique photos. But for me, practicing photography came much easier than practicing my writing. I believe the same technique of learning for photos can be applied to writing. Practice, practice, practice, and read the greats. Read the greats and think about what made it good. I'm not against going to classes if that's your thing, but some people replace their entire practicing with trying to just gobble up more and more and more information on it. Just get a few basics and practice the craft itself.
With any creative skill, there's only so much advice, tips etc... you can do before you're at the tip of the cliff and you just have to dive off and do it.
Whether your a fan of Bukowski or not, he's a perfect example of just fucking writing and writing and writing and writing. And write some more, and he embodied his style with such monumental confidence. It was HIS style through sheer practice. I think some artists get it in their head that they need other people or classes to tell them how to progress, how to become them. But in reality, in my opinion, I think the best input and the best organic, high quality growth comes from practice. In the end it's as simple as that.
But procrastinating's the only thing I'm good at...
+Drew
Funny you should say that. I too am a photographer and I can go months, or even a year without picking up a camera (It's happened only a couple times) and take better photos than the ones my classmates from photography class are posting on their social media. I honestly had to allow myself to realize that, on account that I'm super critical of my work, not that I actually go around saying I'm better than other people.
Anyhow, I think what it is, is that I decided early on that I wanted to shoot photos and started out with disposable cameras. Then, I got a point and shoot digital one and took photos with that. What I suppose I'm trying to say is that before I'd ever gotten into a class and heard the word "Aperture" or even picked up a DSLR, I'd taken over 20,000 photos. With all the trial and error that comes along with that experience. Be it angles, lighting or settings, etc. Whereas my classmates basically just bought a DSLR and showed up to class. Namely as they thought it'd be an easy class but then began to love photography... however one makes it to the party, whatever. So they're kind of in the same spot on that curve right now, where I was when we were in class.
The irony being that as I actually write books, people always ask me "Oh, what's the best way to get into that, or do it?" The only honest answer I can give them is "By doing it. There's literally no shortcuts. Believe me, I've tried to find some. However, you do it by just doing it." It sounds like a real "No duh" answer, I know... but it's kind of the answer I wish I'd gotten ten years ago.
Yeah I started on a little point and shoot digital, then a DSLR for a few years, and I've stayed with film now because it just fits how I shoot, i.e no batteries to charge, you can get really quick and proficient with changing f-stop and shutter, and estimating how far you want your focal point which I find really good for street photography. I have a K-X with a pancake 40mm lens, such a small lens. When doing street photography, people also seem a little less tense because if it's obviously a film camera you're using, you must be shooting for artistic reasons.
I eventually also got sick of going through huge swaths of photos, doing photoshop contrast etc... to my images. So I shoot Delta 100 @ 200 for natural contrast, and Ektar for colour and I do my best to make the moment I snap to be the final image. I eventually decided I was fine with sarificing some portability for quality/sharpness and nowadays I shoot a lot with a Pentax 67 with the 105mm 2.4. Beautiful images. Now I've been thinking about trying to optimize the portablity along with quality so looking at a Hasselblad. And at this moment it feels like a natural decision. Not like when you're starting out and just want awesome cameras cause they're awesome and have cool names and wanting gear just to have gear. Anyone who asks me about photography (like with your writing), I give a quick run down on shutter speed, f-stop, ISO and tell them thats it go shoot as much as you can and stay persistent, cause you're gonna fuck up some shots you were excited for, and you'll find some gems you thought were crap. It's a great way to spend you're time, and to look at the world.
Anyway I know you know this haha. The thing I noticed from the people who went to art school. If they went in mediocre, they come out maybe slightly better? If they go in already killer, they can really improve. But the most noticeable thing was most of them were better at selling their art. Much better than me cause just shoot it scan it, put the sleeve in a binder and keep going.
And lastly, they say to do what you love and you won't work a day blah blah... I'd say about 80% or more of the commercial work I've done I haven't been particularly stoked for, espcially a number of hours in. Idk maybe a different form of it would work.
The only way to figure these things out for yourself as an artist is to go through!!
My entire life has been occupied with "what ifs" almost to the point I would start elaborating and daydreaming in the middle of conversations...
I found a twin!!
My problem is not struggling to create characters or even story ideas, but just working on it enough to finish it. It's a problem I've had since junior high, where I've had an idea for a story or character, I'd draw or write it, and then, because it didn't come out as quickly as I liked, I dropped the whole thing. And this would happen over and over again. I'm writing and drawing a comic now (or trying to), and I'm exercising a lot more patience in this process, but I'm curious if you have any advice on persistently writing and/or just finishing the story. Granted, comics are not my main passion these days, but it's still something I care about and enjoy doing and I would like to prove to myself that I can at least finish one story.
Mickwhitefire28 Same. I can think up lots of ideas and characters, even starting a story for them. I tend to lose interest quickly though, perhaps because I have to limit my ideas to allow the story to flow, make sense and keep interest.
Perhaps it's more a case of I'm not really invested in the ideas as much as I think I am. I like the ideas, but don't have the motivation to expand or write for them. I've had one idea that has had multiple changes, but the overall idea is the same, and I've written up many characters and basic plot points, but when it comes to writing the actual story I still find myself withdrawing after only a couple of pages. I think it's probably because I don't like writing what, to me, will seem boring; you know, normal situations that the characters need to go through to get to exciting points.
I feel the same way, and it gets frustrating when you want to put something on paper and it's not going the way you want or like.
I think that you should storyboard the comic first and then move it on to paper. It might makes the prosess feel much faster for you. Just a thought, cheers :D
Mickwhitefire28 I had that problem in elementary school. I have a similar problem now. I can't focus on my stories too often, I'm always getting wrapped up in other things, jumping from one thing to the next. It's been months and I'm only on the second chapter of my story, but after a lot of daydreaming in school I have about 20 more in my head.
Mickwhitefire28 I've been there, bud. Something that kept me going on my comic was to set a different goal each time you start a new chapter/ one shot.
Lets say you start chapter one and your first goal is to just focus on completing your first chapter(trust me, as a motivator, it's definitely more effective than it sounds). Then in your second chapter you decide to focus on improving the artwork, then paneling, etc, so you almost always have a reason to continue until you're so far into it that there's just no reason to quit anymore.
Personal experience :)
Mickwhitefire28 I've had the same problem ever since I started writing (not finishing stories). What has helped me is, first of all, to outline the story. I do it as quickly and simplified as possible so I wont forget my ideas the next day. Then, I start writing the actual story, but there's often a temptation to get started writing something else as soon as I get another idea, or to go back to writing one of my older stories again. The distraction of other ideas has always been my problem, but I finally found a way to deal with it. I combine my new/old story ideas with the story I'm currently writing. I can't always do that (like if I'm writing a medieval fantasy and the idea involves modern technology), but if I CAN fit the idea somewhere into my current story, then I'm happy, and no longer wanting to abandon my project for a new story. I hope this will help; I'm not sure if you're the same way about this or not... One last tip is to make a computer folder, Pinterest board, or something else with lots of pictures and other things that relate to your story. They can inspire you when you're loosing interest in the story, and maybe spark some new ideas :)
For me music works just great, I could come up with a story just by hearing a melody, but most of the time it is a very brief story and my problem is I don't know how to deliver it as I imagine it. Since I make videos I have to think of things I don't know how to use like editing and directing, my problem is the viewer's position, while I'm thinking of a story I don't know where the viewer should be, should it be on the side of the character? In front? On the other side of the room? No idea what I should be focusing on for the scene to bring the energy I want to the part I want. It's pretty frustrating and that's why i've held the stories I like until I know how to manage that sort of stuff.
+D3NlS5E you could try looking up directing tutorials online. Or like he said, study your favorite shows or movies and see what they did and think of why they did that. Read their biographies, see what inspired them.
Take this with an extremely small, atom sized grain of salt, because I have no experience with directing or creating anything in this area.
But, when I think of a scene/story/etc, I always see it in my mind from the position I'd want to create it in. So from that, my advice would be, don't necessarily think about where the viewer is/watching from. Think of it more as which position you feel would have the most impact/which would help you convey what you want/need to convey.
For example, a scene where the protagonist is sad to the point of breaking into tears. You wouldn't want to draw some random tree. You'd draw a close-up on the face so the emotion of the protagonist is shown.
Or maybe the protagonist's best friend died and there's a tree or type of flower or some other object relevant to the two of them. You could draw the object of importance without showing the protagonist's face accompanied by the protagonist's crying/whaling/screaming/etc.
As long as it helps hammer home the scene, it's up to personal choice. At least, that's the conclusion I've come to through my own inexperience.
E E, That's some good advice
I know this is old,but I still want to reply...
In my personal experience,I always writes it down.It's actually really hard for me to think about stories purely by thinking.
Writing can help me organize them easily,remember them,and at the end form a nice storyline.
And if it's a video,try to draw the frame down.It's okay if they are only stick man,as long as they can help you to really see the effects.
#releatqble
Drawing skill is so unreal that it stirs up all the envy in my body.
Meh this is good and all but I'm pretty sure mark can draw alot of different ways and different/better styles
Eden Entern I'm just talking about him in general. He is incredible!
***** Indeed! :p
I know right :')
The most important thing isn't how good he is,
but how good you want to become.
If you're just sitting there in envy, you'll probably not reach the goal to have those skills on your own.
Your advice is always so helpful.
+Micah Buzan Thank you Micah!
Micah Buzan ;)
This is always inspiration.... u never go wrong in watching these reviews to get stimulated for writing.
#10 reminds me of a great quote I heard once, and it's very true. "Great books aren't written, they're edited". Basically, just throw your story down first. The first draft is gonna be bad. You can make it good when you have something to actually improve upon!
Man, I literally just searched "how to draw poses" yesterday, and your channel came up.
I searched "How to write a good story" today, and your channel just popped up AGAIN.
Well now that's what I like to hear :)
your voice is really relaxing
+Lauren Kinsey Ever listen to Bob Ross?
i've heard a lot about the legendary bob ross, is it as good as they say?
it's better than what they say
+Jules Le Awesome (TrAsH) LOVE us screen saver! Lapis is my favorite
#asmr
Marckrilley I'm so inspired of you an I don't know whether your reading this but if you are than feel pride in how much you inspire people. My older brother made a successful comic and got paid and it was published just because of you and I'm making my own. As a conclusion I would like to say "Thank You"
+Killwaver Killwaver Glad I can help :)
+markcrilley Your voice is kinda inspirational, just to begin with.
My book is a mix between The Walking Dead, RWBY, Animorphs, Mortal Kombat, and a touch of (Bayverse) Transformers.
Current Comics:
G.L.I.T.C.H (Glitching Like Interdimensional Travelers Coming Here)
Genre(s):Sci-fi,Action,Comedy
In the galaxy (MINOR SPOILER CENSOR) a young innocent (IMPORTANT SPOILER CENSOR)
accidentally falls on the black hole while helping a stranger that teleports him to (MINOR SPOILER CENSOR)
and was made a Glitch by an unknown person
Dawg from the Hood
Genre(s):Comedy,Fantasy
Jesus Christ developed a new personality but accidentally absorbs it.
He became a rebel and thug.
He never gave the personality anymore.
He made his name backwards (Dog) then made it more gangster-ish
He is officially known as Dawg
Exception:
Genre(s):Horror,Drama
Two boys escape from a mental asylum and everything was okay until they saw a "hallucination" and other hallucinations
and then they realize that they forgot their pills 9 years ago.
They tried but stopped by (MAJOR SPOILER CENSOR) but successfully took it.
Until one night (MINOR SPOILER CENSOR) saw a hallucination and realize that their pills was stolen.
Will they find the thief?
I have the collected edition of Brody's ghost
As an experienced Manga artist I can say most of the ideas come from random occurances in my life and dreams I may have. What I'm saying is if you can't come up with an idea, take a look at your own life and things your interested in. And make a hybrid story from it, including dreams you have too.
Coming up with a plot is sometimes the trickiest part for me. What usually happens for me (And I actually did this last night) is i'll be at my desk for a few hours, browsing different youtube videos or shows on netflix (I like crime/thriller/horror so I like to watch shows like forensic files). I'll also do some history researching and science-y stuff (I spent about 50 minutes studying the sleep cycle and sleepwalking last night). While I do this, a thought will pop in my head, i'll write it down, and eventually the ball just really gets rolling. I write down my thought process, the questions I ask myself. Usually i'll iron something out and I have something to work with.
Your whole 10 Tips series based on Brody's Ghost is a HUGE help. I'm developing my webcomic and sometimes I hit a wall when it comes to figuring out the right way to draw a scene, what information to show and hold back, coming up with interesting ideas and mostly what makes good dialogue. Thanks a lot :D
+TotallyToonsTV Thank you
+markcrilley what's the best way to start a story after you have the idea and plot
I had an idea but then I saw other Mangas that have done it so now its back to the drawing board.
+markcrilley I'm an author, and I run into the problem of starting a novel and then halfway through get a story idea and start writing that one. Do you get this problem when creating your books?
Could you talk about how to develop a character?
It's Very Frosty Cold which?
Developing a character is like feeding an animal information they never knew about and hope for them to grow up and be the pet you want them to be.
Or more so as in, always have a plan, a straight line of either events, people they meet, things they do, personality trait plays a big role in this too! just make sure you're always developing them, it takes time and time again to help them climb that ladder. Basically, a kitten growing up to be a strong kitten! haha :b
@@msbunny753 *Or take that idea literally and spin it so "feeding information" to that "animal" becomes dark/serious metaphor for child indoctrination and abusive relationships, congratulations, now you just made your very own "dEeP" story!*
Oh and I know am bit late to comment here but just wanted to
Yes pls I also need help
Here
1. Make a character
2. Give him/her drama that gives him/her moral lessons
3. Profit
Number 5 is the bane of my creative process. In stories I want to write, I have plenty of scenes that I think are great and solid, but I am incredibly frustrated and unable to link the major scenes together. I just can't devise a decent buildup and what happens in between. it has stagnated the development of my favorite story idea for almost 7 years now.
+GasMaskTrenchCoat
maybe you need a partner who can help you do it, if you really get stuck. You could ask a friend
I was I this trap too, it helps to try and explain your story to people as best you can and your brain will often make up connections automatically. But, if it's still problematic, it may be time to rewrite the story to pace better.
i use my dreams
Me too! My dreams are so fun and weird!
The fun thing I do in my dream-based writing is to try and take similar scenery from different dreams and piece all the similarly themed dream environments into one region, eg. all the dreams about abandoned factories are placed into a city's industrial estate etc.
+Napat Niamhoon I had a dream that my phone kept braking in different ways, yeah that sounds like a good story
2creative4me
I do to, although I usually jot down important scenes and details for it first, then build up the story by writing transitions for those scenes to fill in the gaps. I had one last night about a kitten however it was depressing as hell.
What about using dreams to base your story off of?
Lolave Oooh that's a good one, forgot about that!
Damn... thought I was doing something special and unique.
Then don't learn to lucid dream, because lke 85-90% of the time, the moment you become fully lucid, the events/activity of the dream can sometimes just halt and you're just kind of in a dream. Although I've had some crazy surprises in my lucid dreams, which would make for good writing material
I thought everyone did that.
What you can remember your dreams *mind blown*
I've been thinking about creating some comics and animations but I wanted to create the plot first and I've been having some trouble coming up with some ideas. This is an extremely helpful video. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much man!!! I've been working on a game for a while and I've got through story after story but your tips have helped me realize so much. I could never thank you enough.
+Ethan Hydra Thanks Ethan, glad I can help!
+markcrilley man it helped me a lot !
4 n 10 were just the tips i needed planing to write a fab story now!
Hope it turns good n yeah i want to read your ones where can i get it?
what game is it?
What game is it
I use my broken insanity meter: Multi world's, future and past collide, supernatural abilities, books of magic, missions to save the world, kids trying to live their lives but have to make the decision where their place is in the multi worlds, death, chaos, friendship, screaming, and infinite main characters lives furious and hungry.
I would like to see your work.
me too
Me Three
Me four
I'm still writing it. Once I'm finished I'll turn it into a youtube audio episode.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to make videos on storytelling and art along with your books! They've assisted me in drawing and writing my plots as well. I'm fairly young, and I've always been inspired to make a comic series. After many attempts of trying again and again to come up with a plot that would rope you in, I used your advice on creating a world around a character. I'm working on a plot line that was created using this advice, and in my opinion, it's better than any of my others. :)
Thanks.
Thank you!
I saw your books in my library, I'm surprised because I live in a sh*t place xD.
I watched this so you don't have to! :-)
1. Base your story on a real-life occurrence - something that has happened to you or someone you know.
2. Do a mash-up of 2 or more story genres
3. Build your story on a what-if scenario
4. If you have a character but not a story, try to tell the day in the life of that character
5. Think of a single scene and then reverse-engineer a story to get you to that scene
6. Keep an eye out for interesting news stories to base your story off
7. Begin by copying your favorite book or movie, then change it until it becomes something completely different
8. Start with a location that interests you, then write about a person who lives in that location
9. Don't just watch TV, study it
10. Just start writing! Often a great story can emerge even if you are completely making it up as you go along
OMYGOSH I though I recognized your name! I have your anime drawing books and I really love them!:3
Thank you! :)
how did i miss brodys ghost 6 being released?!?! To amazon!!! great advice thanks again for another bit of help :)
Varrmak He should reply to you and give you a slap.
i miss a lot of vids cos of work but i really like brodys ghost its the first manga ive ever read :D
Varrmak word ....
Varrmak Thanks so much for supporting me! Hope you like the ending :)
getting it tomorrow no matter the price, time to shock my family by sitting still while i enjoy that story thanks again for the awesome story and consistent help you provide for people to make theyer own :D
I often take a look at my earlier stories whenever i need an idea for a story, especially the first ones, as they are basically "sandwiches" composed of story ideas and violence.
i mean, there is this wizard in a secret security agency, then there is a fight, then the wizard is a robot from the future, more violence and all of a sudden demons...
can i buy an e-comic book of brody's ghost?
Wow XD and my earlier stories are just about my dogs
I'm looking at coming up with methods for story writing for video games I use this video for references quite often. when I'm trying to think up experiences and I really appreciate the effort put into this series.
Mark, I have to agree with many other comments on here that your work and these motivational videos are so inspiring. I have to say that I could just sit and listen to you for hours. Thank you for all you are doing.
Some people don't take Shia Labeouf's motivational speech serious... I think that motivational speech is very true and can help you get further in life... Just as Mark said: "Just start writing", just do it, nothing is impossible!
DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS
Dove from Above DO IT. JUST DO IT.
Robin art•15• YESTERDAY YOU SAID TOMORROW
Dove from Above JUST DO ITTT!
Actually... "The Day When Nothing Happened" sounds like a really interesting short story.
8:08 Ya know, I like the sound of that! I feel I'm a lil better at writing fanfic than I do at forming my own stories, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit. But that's a neat approach.
"What if there was a type of humans that could manipulate organic matter like clay?"
"What if the gods are devils put under controll and that controll is fading?"
This is the two what if's I could sum up my curresnt idea up with.
That second idea is gold
Thank you so much. This was all really good and uplifting advice and made me rethink about some approaches.
As an amateur author, I have to say that this video really helped inspire me, not only to keep coming up with new stories but also on how to continue stories that I've already been working on. The advice on not getting stress about stories not being 100% original was like that moment when you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.
Mark, I have watched you since high school (c/o 2011) to learn drawing. Now I am working on a comic book of my own, because I feel my art has developed well enough. Here I am, years later, coming upon your channel again to get fantastic advice, again. Thank you for caring so much about other artists out there. You have really impacted my artistic journey! :)
Thanks a lot for the advice, Crilley, I shall keep all this stuff in mind! ^^
I've got a few stories I'm working on myself, But I think my biggest problem is actually *sitting down and focusing!* I have no clue how to make myself want to write or draw even.
If only it was so simple, eh? Thanks again for the advice!
I find music to have a greater impact on my storytelling, I'm way more descriptive when I'm listening to music that fits the tone and where I am in the story. For example, if my character is feeling sad and lonely, feeling ignored and betrayed to the point of her breaking point, I'd listen to classical piano [Crystal Winter - Christopher Ferreria] that usually gets me in the mood of typing out really descriptive words and sentences, it puts me in my character's place. I'm always very passionate about my writing and word choice but when listening to music it really puts me on a deeper level with my writing. Another example is a badass scene, I'd put on Taylor Swift, or something that's very fast and lighting. As well as when someone is heartbroken, I'd put on a heartbreak song. Either way, it's how I am. It sometimes gets me writing/drawing for up to an hour, listening to the music and nodding my head to it all, it's really handy. Hope this helps! ^^
When I become rich and famous for one of my comic creations I'll be sure to give you some credit. haha
I'm honestly not a very creative guy, but it is my dream to become a comic book creator one day, I'd like to say that this really helps out, mainly because, I have the most trouble with coming up with interesting ideas. While I'm not very creative, I still believe that everyone has the ability to think of a story, and if you work hard you can make that story good.
***** Totally. A few months ago i couldnt draw anything. But i worked very hard and now im pretty good at drawing and even found my own unique style and im working on my first manga. You can achieve everything you want! :)
***** Everybody is creative in some way or another I think. You just need to find the right way that makes you tick, for example try and observe your everyday life, people you walk past by every morning, objects that are there everyday that can be base to some amazing story. Just pay attention to your surroundings and ideas will eventually start just popping out.
I as for that matter, use everything that's around me everyday to try and make into story ideas and they just pop in my head at random times. Also one of the ways that works best for me is trying to imagine myself as a character of some world I have created in my mind and write the story in a way that I, myself would like live it and go through it - That in my case is probably the best way to approach creating stories. You just need to find your own way and you'll create some good stories.
Remember for when you were a kid you were creative as hell and this creativity faded away as you grew older, but that doesn't mean it can't come back.
So good luck to you.
NCOMEDY Upload a picture and link me to your drawing, I want to see this "unique" style, and in general you progress overall.
***** "I still believe that everyone has the ability to think of a story, and if you work hard you can make that story good."
Hear hear! And good luck to ya!
La Fein thanks for the advice :)
I had a crash on my creativity side recently and I want to thank u for restoring it, by giving me knew ideas with this video. Thanks Mark!!
I'm reading Brody's ghost, and I absolutely LOVE how the story is going. I'm up to book 5, and I swear the plot twist. ITS KILLING ME.
+CanzoniAStorie Thank you! So glad you're enjoying it ^^
I love your books so much ;_;... Got the whole series of Brody's Ghost TwT.. I can recommend it to everyone in the comment section C:
Thank you so much!
markcrilley sorry I have to ask here, my phone will not allow me to make my own comment and attach your name. So I have this idea that I am very into but I have never experienced. I want, in the end, the main character to kill the other against their own will. My what if was what if you had to kill someone you loved without any free will. But I do not know how to illustrate that since it is very difficult for someone to experience that. Should I give that idea up or just try to best illustrate the emotions as realistically as possible?
Arianna Silva Really, all you need to do is practice. some recommended expressions are:
Horror
Fear
Anger
Sadness
I thought of an alligator and a refrigerator. And guess what I got?
Refrigergator
One of the biggest things that gets my creative juices flowing is Roleplaying online with other people. Creating stories over time with one other person or a group of other people really helps me get ideas for stories. Like, if something in an RP really clicks I can be like "oh hey. That would be cool if this would have happened instead" or "hmmm what if this world was a bit different than what the RP author has intended"
I saw a post once that said if you are writing a story ask yourself the two questions, “What do I want the protagonist to achieve,” and,”How do I stop them from reaching that goal?” I think this just makes the whole process so much more simple in my opinion
oh my god I love your video's so much. So inspiring, thank you.
Thank you Kayla :)
Your videos are all so insightful. Thank you for the many, diverse advice!
Another honorable mention that I found helped me when I was just starting out is. "Not every bit of the world or setting for your story needs to be known before you can write it"
I constantly found myself writing great worlds, even creation of all things and how every little thing came to be... that I would never actually get around to writing my actual 'story'.
Your comment about getting too uptight about planning everything out was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you for this video, time to finally sit down and write.
I like to combine the genres "Slice of Life" with Fantasy (and a little cute comedy, since I can't stand painfully sad stories...)
Most of my main "What if" scenarios come from my dreams. I tend to get some fantastic dreams, and usually write down the ones I remember most, add a little more to it's concept, and make characters for those stories. It's quite fun!
PixiePrincess501 Me too. Though, I don't tend to remember my dreams, sadly.
PixiePrincess501 I always have great Ideas when I don't have notebook on me :'D Sometimes I'm lucky enough to be able to remember and write it down, but mostly it just vanished from my brain X'D
“Base it on a real life occurrence.”
My: “I was sitting down on my phone under my sheets doing until time and everything with it froze....except me.”
It includes a scene where The Main character sees a frozen man with ice cream and he takes it and eats it. It also includes a scene where he walks in a school with the whole class frozen and the teachers are frozen. And then he kind of experiments with the things around him. He has to find a way to unfreeze time.
There are a couple of things I like to do to improve my own stuff. I often get ideas by curling up in a corner, listening to music, and playing a mindless repetitive little block game on my phone for an hour. I also ask myself "Why?" a lot. If I don't have a good answer, the idea is scrapped or changed until I can come up with a plausible cause-effect. This often results in me coming up with newer or improved results of things, and helps me keep to the boundaries I set for my world.
Building my characters along with my world helps a ton too. I love writing backstories that match the worldbuilding so I know what I'm working with.
I also tend to come up with deep spiritual parallels with my work to help me. Oftentimes stuff I write has a deep meaning behind it, and I use that parallel to channel ideas to represent what I'm trying to get across.
I mixed sci-fi and western and I got a GREAT result thanks for the tips mark
Been trying to write a story for years but keep dumping the whole idea in the end ><
These tips are really helpful! :)
I have a ton of overflowing ideas, but I'm having a hard time picking a certain path for my story to follow out of all my ideas for the later parts of the plot. Any tips would be really appreciated
@markcrilley, what you said at 8:07min really suprised me, since i didn't expect you to have your own master. In fact YOU are the master of Manga for ME (and propably many viewers as well). Thank you so much for sharing your experience and giving all those advices, they help me alot because we have a similar (realistic) drawing style. I admire your work!
I love your advice! I am currently a senior in college going for a film degree and we are taught structure and set rules for writing scripts and whatnot. I, hate conforming and one of my friends and I usually bend the rules and do things not quite "kosher" to the set rules. I'm glad there is a successful story teller, such as yourself, that teaches your viewers to think outside the box and there there is no right or wrong way to do things!
Hey Mark
i have been watching your videos for years and i got to say this is my favorite video !
i love this tips series and i would like to see more of this !
keep on with the great work !
SuperKz Thank you ^^
I got my story ideas from the voices that come out of the drain in my kitchen sink
My advice: Pay attention to your dreams. Some of my story ideas stemmed from an interesting dream I had that night.
You know, I find it interesting that you mentioned "Reverse engineering a scene you think of". It's VERY much how I work. It just comes more natural; I lie in bed and think of this happy, dramatic, heart breaking, or etc. type of scene, and then I think of everything before and after that point.
(I'm currently in the midst of working on my own original manga and your videos and books are a REALLY big help. You are a talented and generous man Mr. Crilley :3).
I wonder if someone already made an hentai based on Brody's Ghost :o
What have you done. You're feeding them.
Seriously, it's been out there for ages, somebody must have done something, I mean, it's internet, you know :o
What is a hentai?
SafeRoundHouse animated porn mostly consisting of little girls, rape or tentacles
TJ | Nekonyan99 It's the internet, it might've already happened.
"A Western story that involves vampires." You mean: Damn These Vampires by The Mountain Goats?
Thank you so much. This really helped me a lot. I am trying to develop an indie video game and I was having trouble coming up with a story. For many months, all I had were a few original characters and 12 original soundtracks, and I knew they told a certain type of story all together, but it just took me a long time to find it. Now, thanks to this video, I am now overwhelmed with the amount of stories I DO have rather than the ones I don't, and that is very helpful for me. I came up with a great story by forming at least one idea for every one of your methods, than I weaved them all into one. You really helped me. Thank you!
I have A.D.D. and have been struggling to write a story. I know what kind of story I want to make, but I'm not good at getting it from point A to point B. I'm a more visual person in general, so the challenge is to get a visual person with a short attention span to create entire universes with his mind. Every now and then I'll have an idea and can create a general outline of the events I want to take place. It took me a while, but I finally came up with a system. When I was in middle school I drew comics. I didn't have any sort of system, I would just draw a panel outline and filled it with whatever came to mind in that instant. I didn't think, I just drew. Needless to say the stories weren't very good, but I got the plot to progress. My current system is to create a rough outline of scenes and events I want to happen. Then I take it to paper and instinctively draw the gritty little details with that outline in mind. The story I create this way might not be very good or flow very well, but at least now I have a visual aid to work with. From this rough draft of my work, I can make revisions and slowly transform the story into the one I imagined. Maybe this idea can help anyone else out there with a similar problem.
Syntherus That reminds me of my friend with A.D.H.D who also struggled with comics for the same reason, she decided to start with shorter, simpler comics, slowly building up to more complex drawings, then plot improvements, etc. She also started with writing about her day to day experiences with A.D.H.D.
Hey I just got those books!:-)
Rainbow Dash Thank you!
:-)
markcrilley I can't remember if I asked yet but can you help draw a slow dance scene that is just not something I'm good at, I'm just fine at Manga but poses are hard 4 me
+Neo Star Same here
Where does Brody's ghost take place? Is it a real city in the future? Or is it a fictional universe?
+Jessie Fox Read the books.
My art teacher said one day a interesting thing about Salvador Dalí that I think can be very useful. When we, people that love writing (or/and drawing!!), sleep, and before that, we usually keep thinking about scenes, facts, sceneries, nonsense things, stories and such. Dali sit on a chair, with a plate on the floor besides it, under his arm. Then he would hold a metal spoon over the plate and relax his body, almost falling asleep. When that happen, he ended up dropping the spoon on the plate, waking up because of the sound.
That's one of the ways he could have those crazy ideas to paint about. Creativity flows a lot in this first sleep state.
I went through this sort of transition phase back in my mid-teens during which I was coming up with these AU-fics for Danny Phantom. As I was writing one of them I realized that, with a few minor tweaks of the details, the story would work much better as an original story. The first chapter of that story is probably one of my favorites too. :D It's really got nothing in common with the series I originally wrote it for aside from similarities in the main characters. Even then, they have distinguishing traits that make them quite different from the Danny Phantom characters they were based upon. Fanfiction is definitely a good way to start building an original story.
Personally, I think fanfiction is sort of like the training grounds for writing original fiction. Working with already-developed characters and premises can help an author focus more on the actual story than on developing characters to go with it. It also helps to learn what sort of genre you're best at as an author, what sort of stories you like to write, et cetera. I rarely write fanfiction nowadays but I know that it definitely helped me when it came to crafting my own worlds and characters. :)
I want to get into manga any tips?
Practice, until the Hell is freezes over. :D
Arendade Practice drawing, and more important than that, practice sequential art. In other words, even if you don't think it looks great at first, start comic-ing early and often. Best way to practice, IMO
Get into the habit of starting with the base and doing details later. I started off the wrong way, and it's a hard habit to break. Also, learn where to shade sooner rather than later. :)
A lot of famous mangaka start as an ordinary people who like to draw and tell story. They've had so much series that no one know before. Most of those manga don't have good arts and/or story. They were like you, and like me, too. So don't give up and keep going If you _really_ want to be a mangaka!
Arendade You should read manga ;)
Mark please draw a foxxxxxx xD
I don't get it...
***** still dont get it.............................................................
ohhh ok XD
y XD
ohh :o
I've been working on my comic for over 5 years; its been rewritten, redrawn, re-realized to oblivion. And it's not just the story but as well as the enriching lore and history that centralizes the main idea of the world. Story separate as it deals with more personal issues. There is a fine difference between lore and story, but with both coming together it creates a larger and more intricate and compelling overall narrative. Right now I'd say I'm only 10% to its full realization.
I own Mark's book of "Mastering Manga" and it truthfully is extrememly helpful. Mark, you are SO good at drawing and i want you to know... There is no one i'd rather learn anime or manga from then you!
Stay awesome! and keep doing what your doing!
I'm going to study in an art school this september and i'm super stressed do you have any advices for me? I already got your book about manga ^^ love your videos
Save up money. You'll have to buy supplies there, and LOTS of them.
Well i'm only 16 and it's like idk how to explain an high school but a special one xd an art one
Ah. Well then its no problem.
KatawoK You're going to fail end of story, just as I have. Look at me now, look at me now, look at me now, .....
I've ended up here, telling people they're going to fail.
KatawoK You're going to fail end of story, just as I have. Look at me now, look at me now, look at me now, .....
I've ended up here, telling people they're going to fail.
use real life stories or news? pfff... my dreams are way more interesting than that
Kuro Yuki On the news a few months ago: "Man fights of 6 cops while masturbating"
Thomaez Well, that sure is interesting, but I... don't really wanna draw it XD
Kuro Yuki But hey, never say that reality is boring again xD
Just when I needed it most. Now I feel that I know how to put my mess in order, so I won't get lost. I'll finally be able to tell my story!
#10 is totally true! I got bored in language arts one day and started trying a story, and three years and four different versions of said story later, I'm 170 pages in on the best version yet!
I have been trying to create a story for my character and about 5 minutes in when you said to tell a story of a day in the life of your character it really had me thinking and i think i have the perfect story for my character. i have no idea on how to thank you.
5:35 I use this a lot without even thinking about it, especially when I listen to music, seeing my characters fighting eachother and then a story builds on how they got to that point. Pretty cool.
I then try to contextualize it so that it makes sense into the main line of the story
This just helps even more. Honestly I want to make manga for a living, it's my dream and markcrilley you videos on how to draw manga actually let me do a dream that I feel like I can fully develop. A lot of your videos and this one book has helped draw half decent characters(still need work on the body though and everything else) but I still have a long way. So yeah thank you. Sorry it's such a huge comment I just wanted to thank you. markcrilley
Okay so I know this was posted 3 years ago but I DO write “fanfiction” to help create my stories and characters and I’m glad that he mentioned it.
When I make comic storys i get to uptight about the style of art. So I just start doing frames with the characters drawn in a super cartoony simplistic way. I get to discover the characters and play around with the fundamentals of each character, rather then worry over the art work. Thanks mark for making these vids!
Thx, i totally am trying the "what if" scenario method
When he said : A story of western and vampires, I was like "Hmmm..... that sounds like another famous comic book franchise" Cof! Cof! American Vampire cof! XD
#4 is definitely a good thing for me to do. Character creation is probably my biggest strength as a writer, so starting with a day in the life of one of a character I create is probably the best thing for me to try and do.
I cracked a grin when you mentioned Breaking Bad on #9. I'm on my third marathon of the show right now, taking it in as a writer this time and not just a consumer of entertainment. That is some great advice, Mark, as is the rest. Thanks for taking time out to make these videos for us.
All of these are really really helpful! I'm aiming to become a Mangaka in the future (nowhere near that goal as of right now) and I've been really worried about coming up with a plot for it. My favorite piece of advice that seems interesting and most likely could work for me is the working backwards tip. Often I'll just sit, think up one scene that could be amazing and go to write it, but find myself being like, "Wait, I need to start with the beginning of the story and then get here." By the time I realize that I always throw the idea out and it never comes back to my mind again. Again, thank you for these really helpful tips. I might practice a few of them.
Thank you a lot mark , I have had trouble creating a story for a while . May you live a long and happy life.
Mark!!!! Thank you for this video! I've had writers' block for the longest time and have been looking for way to get some inspiration. For the past few years (been writing for 5 years) I've been writing my own little stories and now I'm starting to get really serious about writing my own story. I use about 75% of these methods on my own so time to try the other 25%! Thank you again!
My first story took place in the Dragon Ball Z universe. I came up with my own character and story but weaved it into the DBZ world. I later dropped it simply because I thought no matter how "good" this story can be, it will always be a fan comic. But after watching this, I'm thinking of working on it again. I never realized that I could just simply change the world until it was one of my own. Thanks for the vid!!
One thing I do very often when writing stories is listening to music and imagine scenes that take place based on the song. What is this song about and how can I apply it to my characters? Can this song work as background music for this scene? Sometimes it even starts with just imagining a music video for that song. Whenever I feel like I need to get inspired I try to find a song to listen to and let my imagination go wild.
The thing is that the situation you end up thinking of is very ambiguous so, like you said, you "reverse-engineer" it and then you come up with the backstory for it. The scenes that I imagine the most are fight scenes, so I ask myself: "Why are these characters fighting? Do the have a reason to fight?" For sad music that makes me think of emotional scenes, I ask: "What can make this thing happen? What can make this have a heavier emotional toll on the characters and viewer? Can I add foreshadowing for this?" And everything starts building up and up. It's the best thing that has worked for me
I learn from books and movies and shows all the time! I always catch myself figuring out and breaking stuff down from the story and visual effects and stuff
I manage to figure out an idea just watching this. The what if tip is so helpful.
YESSS I HAVE THE PERFECT IDEA USING THE WHAT IF SCENARIO! This is going to be fun , tune to use every dang pencil I own!
I like how I watched this video about how to come up story ideas and incorporate it into my songwriting. It still makes sense! Thanks!
Thank you so much, Mark! I really needed a video like this because I've been writing a story and I had started to run out of ideas, but then I watched this video, and now I have something in mind for my ending based off of a soap opera I remember my cousin was watching! Thank you! Your videos are helpful as always!
As you were talking about reverse engineering a story, I noticed that you forgot to mention that just because a story starts out going one way and you have an ending planned you may find that you can redirect it towards a different end if the opportunity comes along. I don't like anime but I do recognize it as an art form and accept it as such, but I do have to say the artwork you have shown here is very good. Also I would like to mention that your content isn't just for comic book writers and artists as I am working on a novel and I do design artwork for the characters, places and items, and I find that your videos are very interesting, creative, inspiring and helpful.
Look forward to watching and learning from more of your videos in the future.