Write a killing comic summary is more important than you think!
No matter the media that you choose to publish your comic, manga, webtoon, or webcomic you will always have to write a short summary to invite your readers to read your story.
Believe it or not, your summary may or not encourage your readers to subscribe/buy your comic, so better to work very well on your comic summary to hook your readers!
I have more tutorials on my main blog, not just for how to write the plot of your comic, page, check them out! Maybe you will find more useful information! 😀
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How to write a killing comic summary: the basic topics that you MUST HAVE
Your comic summary contains your whole story, this is the most concise, easy to see, fastest to be able to tell your story for hook your readers
Know that we know that the summary is let’s check the musts for a good comic summary:
Every comic summary must have:
- (who) your main protagonist and antagonist
- (where) your setting
- (why) your conflict
- and an open-ended question to encourage your audience to read more
- will he/she….?
- what is going to happen?
So let’s dive deeper into some common mistakes that you should avoid and some tips for stand out with your comic summary
1. Most common mistakes that I've seen in many comic summaries
Sometimes this looks so easy to do and most artists don’t take it seriously.
Quick note: all the summaries from those stories are for linear stories (with beginning middle and end) short comics may not fit in this critisim.
I’ve read many summaries on line webtoon that goes like:
“In the kingdom of x, a ruler is decided by their height alone. But this year, two people tied for the tallest person in the kingdom. As they attempt to co-rule the kingdom, they will encounter challenges that make them question the country’s moral values.”
Flaws:
- who is the protagonist?
- yes, there’s a conflict here but is not strong enough to hook readers, because is not specific.
❤❤ This is the love story between an “X” gayboy and “Y” gayboy and extra R18 scenes!. ❤❤
Flaws:
- This literally doesn’t tell me anything about this comic more than “gay boys with R18”, so for me is just a cliche BL story with no interesting plot to read.
- who is the protagonist? o_O
- we don’t even have a conflict here, why should I care to read?
Follow the daily life of “X” and her pirate crew in this revamped 2.0 version of ‘Comic name’ Lots of lootings, plundering and treasures await them while “X” deals in an amusing way with the obstacles that appear in front of her, always meeting new people, although not all of them are friendly.
Flaws:
- This means that this story is a reboot, looks that the author didn’t have a clear script when he/she started her comic, I recommend you to read how to write the plot of your comic here) for more tips.
- Looks like an interesting setting, but there’s no main conflict to grab my attention
- who is the main antagonist? this looks like the character only faces random conflict in the plot.
We can continue with this until we get bored, but I guess we got the main idea.
2. Your conflict, some tips for add in your summary to hook your readers
All stories are about a characters who has a problem
Take this small checklist if you want to write a killing comic summary using your conflict
- Keep it simple, you don’t want to confuse your readers.
- Be specific, will my character gets/achieve/… this? (your answer must be specific yes or not).
- Why the problem that my character faces is a pain in his/her ass? (this will turn on the curiosity of your readers).
- What will happen if he fails?
Think it like this way: if there’s no conflict, your comic has nowhere to go, and if it’s nothing wrong with your character, why should I care about your comic?
conflict in comics is entertaining.
3. Tips to write a killing comic summary
Now that we got the idea in the Don’t let’s dive in the do’s for a killing summary! that will help you to grab new readers!
4. Examples killing comic summaries that grabs readers
For this section I wanted to get famous titles so everyone can relate about what I’m talking about, Those series may not be in comic format but their structure works because we are talking about story more than the media that the story is presented.
Avatar: the legend of Ang
“In a world where humans can bend the four elements, water, earth, fire, and air, the ruthless Fire Nation has engaged the rest of the world in a war that has lasted one hundred years. The world’s only hope is the Avatar, the only one who can master all four elements. When the Avatar returns one hundred years later, a young Airbender named Aang, it’s up to him to defeat the Fire Nation, and bring balance to the world.”
- We know who is the protagonist
- We have a clear idea about the setting
- we know the main conflict of the story
- we know what's the protagonist's main goal
Steven universe
“I5000 years after a great war of Gems, gemstone-like beings from a planet called Homeworld, we meet Steven, a half boy half gem who lives with the “Crystal Gems” Garnet, Amythest, and Pearl, who live on earth after they rebelled against Homeworld. The story follows Steven’s adventures, whether he is fighting monsters or learning to control his own powers.”
- We know who is the protagonist and why he is unique
- We have an idea about the setting and what's going on
- we know the main conflict of the story
- we know what's the main goal of your protagonist
Don’t lose the opportunity to grab a new reader and use your comic summary as best as you can!!
EXTRA TIPS OF HOW TO WRITE A KILLING COMIC SUMMARY:
Do you still feel that you need an extra punch to write a killing summary for your comic?
If you want to grab new readers to your comic you can also use other key factors like:
- The Irony fact
- A mental picture that can bloom the minds of your readers
- a clue or a small foreshadow
Your story is like a puzzle and is your work to make your readers solve the problem that you created, be sure to put a piece of the puzzle on your summary.
Do have an extra tip to add on this list? let me know in the comments!
do you have a current comic / webtoon series going on? write in the comments your comic summary and share your story with us!
let’s grow the industry together, if we help each other we can build a community of webcomic creators that can earn money with their art!!
My best wishes to you, I know you can do it!
See you! 😀
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