Another idea too: If you have an idea for a manga, but you sincerely feel like it can't be told in one chapter, there may be a way to meet in the middle. Why not create a one chapter manga that can act as a sort of trailer/proof of concept for your entire longer story? That way, you can practice on what you want it to be and get feedback on the manga idea before it's even fully released to help improve? If the chapter is popular enough, then you could create your longer story based on it with supporters backing you on the project.

Writing a whole manga series as a beginner is like trying to build an operating system as a beginner programmer.

Doujinshi authors really mastered the way to tell a story in 20 pages

Gotta be honest this channel deserves more attention. I have a manga story I’ve really wanted to make and have plans for it if it needs be cut.

DUDE THIS IS LITERALLY ME! I started out wanting to make a 90+ page comic as my 1st release! That project died (obviously, right?) and I learned that too much too fast was a GREAT way to kill a project! From there I did a 20-ish page one-shot and actually finished that! It helped me gauge my limits and learn a pipe-line I could work with. Now I'm trying out a series type deal with about 8-ish pages per month. Making things smaller-scale and more manageable for yourself actually allows you to get more done!

To be honest, I think that one shots and short stories are great not only for the publishers and aspiring mangakas, but also for some part of the potential audience. For example, I am not a big fan of buying every issue of a manga that has 100 chapters. It's like a book series and costs as much as one (in a shop, physical copy, maybe the cost flacuates in online shops). But an anthology of short stories? One shot with a price of an average book, that does not require more costs from me? Great! I can read something nice without the need to feel that I have to keep my attention for a long time or wait for the next issue being published in my country.

I showed my portfolio yesterday, and they said that my biggest mistake was: no backgrounds, pages too dark and too repetitive angles

Basically the main problem of a lot of beginning filmmakers; trying to make a feature right out of the gate and yet not even being able to edit 2 minutes of film that anybody would be interested in looking at without being bored to tears. Too many people just don't want to put in the work to hone their craft, and believe their a natural born genius.

Honestly, these apply to everything, whether you writing a book, making a game to even directing a film. Always start small, and don't get caught up in world-building when storytelling is what is going to sell your world every great one started with a short story or short film. You will feel so proud when you finish your first project and that sense of accomplishment is a great boost no matter how small it is but it will stand as a great learning experience and foundation for yourself and future projects. I myself have been doing 3-page shorts followed by a short story on the side, they have been well received and now looking forward to expanding to a much larger but manageable project =:D

i am someone who is self taught and wanted to do a story for 100 chapters and was really ready to but then i realised i didnt know how to do even 1 chapter so ive been learning how to make a one shot

So true. I see many people who start to do their Manga/Comic only for them to stop at the middle of the story. It is because the Author get stuck in the middle of a story, not knowing where to go next. Other reasons are that some Authors are in College or have a busy Schedule. My recommendation is to Plan Ahead before working on your Comic/Manga.

I'm starting to see this in my own stories, too. Right now, I am making a fan comic series of Undertale called Nametale and so far I have 296 comic pages (about 125 pages each chapter). It took me six years to make it this far, due to some delays and personal things in my life. I still didn't give up on the project, but I haven't been working on it for a while. I did try mini fan comics of Deltarune, which helped in limiting my pages while practicing my storytelling skills. It is good advice to start small and then grow to bigger projects to keep up the passion drive. Another good advice is that if you truly wish to make a longer story, it's better to write the entire script before you start the drawing process. I can't tell you how much this helped me in keeping Nametale alive despite not working as efficiently on the drawings. It keeps the story alive and you already have your beginning, middle and end. Anyway, thank you for this interesting video and God bless!! 😄☺🎨

A wonderful video that is a much needed call to reality for many aspiring authors who think this is easy. - FORTUNATELY, I am not one of those! I know it's going to take years, even decades to tell my story, but in the past years ive been working on it, and as I produce more and more chapters, the fire and desire to tell the story, properly, before time runs out, has only gotten stronger! Each week of not telling the story, is a chapter that will never be told in the end, and I think that is a disservice to the story and the characters who deserve to have their whole story told. It means many of the biggest moments, will never exist in the first place. We do not have infinite time in this world, so why NOT tell the story we truly want to get off our hearts? After all, the best way to guarantee a story will never be told, is to keep pushing it back while you wait to be "ready", no?

In the television industry, the equivalent to a one shot is a pilot episode. Studios don't usually buy an entire 13-26 episode show right off the bat (though Netflix has been doing that recently for stupid reasons). They usually greenlight a single pilot episode. Then if it is deemed successful, they'll decide if they want to option a whole season. Manga publishers are basically doing it the same way. And when it comes to manga and comics, you have even more leeway. You don't need to start out with a full one shot or even a chapter. You can start out just doing one page or a 4koma. Then build upon that. But talk is cheap. I know. I'm still in the process of improving my drawing ability so I can finally get my own story out. But once I get to that point, I'm going to start off doing one page and post it online. And if people like it, I'll continue it in a longer form.

I love one-shots, they can be super entertaining and don't drain me emotionally!

3:58 the one shot. Some of those stories have been my faves~ or a single volume one short, 5 episodic chapters with a similar theme beginning middle and end.

use a one-shot as a hook/trailer. i was thinking of making a few for my story ideas to gauge whether i can do a full comic series. this convinced me to do so ^^

Making a oneshot sounds fun

this video hurts, but its very helpful! thinking about it, imma do an one shot first, but i feel like i can't abandon my exaggeratedly long story, i became attached to it lolol i will still do a manga about it, even if i give up half way through, it will be okay, its enough for me to know that i brought this story to paper, even for a while

Imo it's very hard for people to do oneshots because they think they should do something completely unrelated, or they don't want to draw/write a "toned down version" of their original ideas. What helped me was just drawing something in the universe I created. I have this story about a witch waking up after the war against the Demon King is already over, most magic users are dead at this point. I can either turn the beginning where she wakes up into a short story or I use the same world and look at one of the surviving mages living in a secluded hut or something dealing with daily problems. Drawing a side story can be even more inspiring and fun than working on the main project!

I was faced with this problem, and then I thought about the Tezuka award requirements, and then I focused more on researching current mangaka's and their beginnings as manga artists. I've started a one-shot on a set of mystery characters that come in later in my main stories.

really great video! starting with a oneshot is also way less complicated for planning everything out

the art of short story telling is something i want/ have been mastering for a few years now... funny thing i never noticed until this video. Thankyou

Oh, nice! I was worried before watching this that I was making some huge mistake. But I've been working on some one-shots to start myself off! That's extremely comforting to hear from this video! (Though I still am trying to create a manga series while doing my one-shots...so maybe I need to slow down a tad.)

So happy I found this Channel, thanks for the great advise

If I ever do decide to make a manga, I want to make it very comedy, slice-of-life, since it’s very simple to make and can run for as long as you want

A one shot sounds like a good idea! It would be good for practice!

I can also attest on how I got my start on the manga I am working on. I did a one shot during the pandemic, that is a loose adaptation of Wil Aime's "prisoner's dilemma" but with me and my friends as the characters. I did it then as a joke, but when I finish all 42 pages of it, let's say I felt that passion to really start my own series. I did a mini series as a warm up, and now fully committing to a full series. TodayI am 13 out of 18 chapters in.

I feel like this is good advice for not just mangakas but story writers as well ^^

This advice really helped me for making my manga your channel needs much more attention then you have now thank you for making videos that help beginner mangaka like me 😀

Awesome , very helpful !

thanks for this new video!!

Thank you so much 😊❤ very informative video it was thanks again

Magic system World building Character sheet And lastly plot Form my writing I tend to focus on plot and characters first then world building

This was very helpful to hear. I love that Professional opinions are heard.

this definitely felt like a call out post especially to me, i always have these big ideas that i want to have huge worldbuilding for but none of my ideas tend to find the paper because im always overthinking things!! one-shots is definitely a good idea!!

I was considering making a one shot before starting my dream comic and now I’m definitely gonna! It’ll be fun!

Whew thank you this is probably really helpful advice, i wanted to make this manga/comic thing, and im only now realizing ACTUALLY how long it would take, because only 1 page took me 12 hours! Because it was fully colored and edited, its definitely a good idea to start slow 😌 and not rush into all my crazy ideas- 😂

Dang this video was incredible 😊❤:)) thx so much

I love this video thank you so much ❤🙏

This was helpful for me as a artist and movie maker.

Thank you for this video... I really needed to hear this information ToT

Creating a Manga/Japanese style comic takes A LOT of dedication. I been working on mine for over two years. I have all my characters written out, And I decided on the start and end with a couple of arcs and events I would like to happen. But I just can't figure out what to put in between these ideas of mine. If you are like me, I would suggest finding a story, or game you like and find a good arc in it. Then, make a fan comic to go in between the arc. This helps with being able to write the middle parts of your story :D

Thanks so much for this informative video guys❤☺️

There's a countless number if videos on how to make manga, but it is very rare to see in those videos any info about manga standards. With comics is easy to find info like this, but not with manga. I want to tell a story in manga format but I don't know how to structure the project because of these missing infos: 1. Do I organize my story in chapters, issues, parts or what? 2. How many pages per issue/chapter/part is the standard or is preferred? 3. What is the desired periodicity of each issue/part/chapter? Weekly, Half a month, monthly? 4. Do I need to include art for the cover? 5. There's need to include some promo art on every chapter? 6. What is the standard or preferred way with colored pages? 7. In comics, in general, there's one person doing each part of the process: script, editing, pencils, ink, coloring and lettering. Is there something like this in the making of manga? To what degree? I'm glad that some of these questions got answered in this video.

I was looking back in one of my used sketch books, and I turns out I had already made a draft of my own "one shot." Well, sort of. It just picks up in he middle of the story, during its climax. It's confusing, with continuity issues and very incomplete, but since then I've been trying to improvise on my own story.

The one shot is the greatest idea for me when beginning, cause like if i have alot of a ideas, i can split those ideas and make alot of different one shots

Love the videos

Just came back from the zoom and it was wonderful

I was already going to do silent manga audition. But this was helpful

This video is so helpful, I hv been on a project for a comic since 2020 till now haven't finished. Reason being i am focusing on many chapters. 🤝

At 8th grade, my teacher gave us a project to make a short comic, she gave us a month to make it. But I never started working. I never wrote the story until the last minute, everything was on my head. I thought my plot was pretty simple and was sure it will fit 10 pages maximum, it extended to 45 pages. It took me 1 whole night to finish it all and finally slept at 4 am. Somehow, everything went well, I got perfect score too. Looking at it now, it's kinda cringy, but doing that one shot gave me so much experience and also made me see the areas that I must improve. That's where it actually sinked in to me that beung an author is tough.

I love how this video is filled with nichijou

When it comes to avoiding plot holes. the most important thing is to have at least a general outline of the plot written down somewhere you can easily check to make sure you're not going against it. This is basic writing advise by the way. You don't need to cover all the plot holes so long as you as the author know the reasons why those plot holes exist. And yes, retroactive plot hole filling is okay. But it's best to avoid building plot holes into the story from the beginning, at least the story as it's seen from the author's perspective. For the readers you can drip feed them the important stuff, but the facts are that they just don't need to know everything. Maybe some day if your story gets popular you can start drip feeding those reasons for the plot holes or write a book or three about the expanded universe of your story that fills those plot holes for the readers. But it only really matters that the author knows what the heck is going on in their story. Readers will come to their own conclusions about the story separate from the author.

Thank you. I'm working on something right now, however i can turn it into a one shot.

yeah, nailing that long running series is a long shot. one shot is a proof of concept, a proof of professionalism and a proof of storytelling skill all in one.

Thank you very much for this video. I was just going to make that mistake ^^U

*stands bleeding from all the points in this video embedded into my back and skull* It hurts so much... But good points none the less though, I've had a Pokemon fan idea in my head for years which has been tinkered and ironed out over the years as I've gained experience in writing and drawing. I've generally had trouble staying on task and more experienced friends of mine (even one that does manga professionally) has recommended starting small which I have been reluctant to embrace because in the video I have this big expansive story I want to share with the world. I have found a work around though, instead I make one shot stories that help with the world building of the overall story which helps train me to committ and I can at least introduce characters and the world.

My boy kuzo. As soon as I saw his layout and his characters I knew right away it was my boy kuzo. I'm so glad you had him on the video.

Hmmm, that was really cool. I think that could work.

I'm so happy I found this because I have a whole story plot going on in my head

thank you for the tiiippppssss

Cool information

You know that explains alot of my issues. I have ideas but they get so big i end up freezing when i try to put them into motion especially if they don't come out exactly how I imagine or they aren't perfect.

Not gonna claim to be a Mangaka artist, but since early summer to now, I was only able to get one chapter done out of 15 I have written(This is for the first volume. I plan to make three volumes, with 12-15 chapters each). I'm coloring it in now, but the first chapter is 45 pages. I'm feeling proud of myself, but I'm also gonna trim down the fat on other chapters going forward to streamline the process and maybe go easier on the backgrounds. Each year I treat it like how the Z-warriors train for the next challenger. Each year, I will have a set goal, and so far, I have met each one. From the start of the new year to December, My goals was the get the script finished and maybe a few chapters drawn and maybe colored. But come January, my new resolution is to finish the first volume. I may succeed, I may fail, but I'd rather fail trying. Glad I watched this video. Maybe I should apply to that contest.

Thankyou for posting this! I’ve had an idea for a story of mine and have always been so inspired by anime and manga my entire life , so of course I want to try to make my own story >:D I do have a big idea in mind but now I am going to try to make a shorter story for practice, I don’t want to get a unhealthy working ethic so I’m gonna practice and try to develop my style more! Thank you -❤️

Loving all the Nichijou in this video.

Thank you sis ❤❤❤❤

I might just use a random story generator and do some one-shots then. I've got a longer project outlined, but I'm not gonna start on it anytime soon because of the novels I'm working on anyway.

My manga series is very long, but its not my first manga, I made practice manga first before I intend to complete my main series and I have been working on this series for 1 year. I completely intend to self-publish and if it takes me a long time, I'm okay with that.

Thank

MY BIGGEST DREAM IS TO BECOME A MANGAKA SO TYSM FOR THIS VIDEO :D!!!

I’m on my way to making my first manga page (only one page) of a genshin fanfic and I’m glad to hear this advice, I tried to make a one shot hentai with my ex and we didn’t even continue it after the sketch phase. This shit is HARD esp when you don’t have the solid fundamentals yet

No wonder I enjoy I do draft and concept art before doing manga

My Manga is based off of and got some inspiration from The Breakfast Club. My family thought it was a little funny. But it's also cute as well. I realize the typical huh. New girl who justlooped in the anime was kinda what well

Guess... I should start making my one-shot manga. I have an... on-going project, just 3 chap but I don't really feel any motivation to continue it. Glad I stumbled into this video. Thank you.

This is certainly sound advice. Something I had to tell myself as I plotted out my stories and whatnot like one of the people in your examples: "What's the point in planning out 20-30 chapters of content if you can't get people interested in 20-30 pages?" So far I've got a couple 4-5 page Character Vignettes and a One-Shot of my webcomic up & running. I'm definitely happy to have a story that actually tangible & isn't perpetually stuck in my head.

i reall want more insight advice like this that talsk more about the process of making a manga rather than focus on the art

Really a nice video

I have plans to make a one shot. I just need to think of the plot though. I'm aiming to make this one shot at least 50 pages

i had dreams about being a manga artist but idk how much it’ll take

Guess I'm lucky, I'm motivated till I finish the manga But I will try this out

I started writing out my story (which will take a long while) so I wonder if creating one shots based off the world of the story that I'm telling can work, as that might be a good way to help me practice world building and other skills that can help me once I get to the main project.

I wanna start drawing manga, but i dont know where to start, and all of these different artistic things are so aspiring yet complicated to understand at once that i dont even know where to start and make a good manga.... i really wanna do it, but i feel like its super hard to start off and i hate it

100% a once shot is the best if you are beginning making comics. I tried to do a 200 page story and got about 50 pages in and got burnt out.. But I have finished a few short stories that as in 10 to 20 page stories. And enjoy that because it gets finished and I came move on to a new story.

Can you please talk about how to end a one shot. How to make sure that the story is not going to continue. Thanks, grat videos !

Ehh, sadly for me it is pretty non-negotiable It is quite literally impossible to put the plot I have in mind in just a chapter, heck, even in just a couple of chapters Which is why I have decided on taking the path of least resistance. I just won’t draw it as my first manga and that’s it! I’ll start by doing a bunch of fancomics, doujins (not of the hentai kind) and adapt a bunch of fanfics I like into manga form, then, after I’m *absolutely* sure I have at least most of it figured out, I’ll start making it into my “magnum opus” About timing? No problem, I’ve long accepted that this will probably become a lifelong project XD I have notes going all the way till middle-school, novels worth of stuff written (and, I’m not even joking, I’ve seriously written a lot of scenes and concepts) Of course I know that it is much more likely to just fail than to succeed which is why I’m training first ad an illustrator, that way, if things were to go awry, I’ll have an easy way out. Contingencies over contingencies Well, I’ve been drawing for about 2 years as of now so, at least, if everything else fails, I still have the skills I cultivated over time, of course, that won’t be it and I AM pretty confident about the viability of my story but relying upon a single project just seems… naive Kinda like gambling but with hope and time instead of money… But, in any case, the idea of one shots *does* indeed seem interesting… Maybe I can adapt it with some of my already existing plans.

my guess is starting out aim for 4 to 8 pages to start with. That's one to two pages per act or beat. First page setup, action, climax or poetic twist, resolution. Then expand to 20 pages, giving you 5 pages per beat. Then start cycling: 20 pages is a complete story but have 4 chapters, each chapter representing a larger story beat in the larger narrative. Then try for the epic.

You're 100% correct honestly

Thank god i watched this😇

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Wow this was helpul Im making doujinshi or fan art comic for my fav. Characters..... XD i was into it... I thought i could make a short stories.... Just base on one episode and hell naaaa....then it became longer and longer I even hop into volume 2 when i still havent finish the first volume..... Thanks for sharing knowledge...

One other thing I think would be great for manga and light novels is a sort of mentorship system. Set something up to encourage successful creators to work together with aspiring and promising younger creators. Give them advice about how to improve characters, conflicts or other aspects of the story. Suggest smaller stories for them to write when they're still getting their feet wet. Maybe even work together with them as joint authors if they have enough free time. I've seen lots of complaints about many light novels being amateurish or cliche, about quality problems or long gaps due to the author not having the time. Getting help from someone with far more experience doing the exact same thing might help with all of this. Or heck, I sometimes think it'd be nice if there were authors who, when in between works, might take suggestions. Don't have the time, patience or confidence to tell your story, or just don't have near enough knowledge and expertise in the central field? Rather than forget the story entirely, it'd be nice if you could submit it somewhere and let someone with all of these things try instead. It'd be a gamble, but it might still bring to light a ton of incredible stories that might never come to be otherwise.

i also did a 287 page series for panel practice the story was of Spartacus

thanks for the advice for a job i never intended to do

One more thing about the manga industry, the chapters you're reading every week are just INTERCONNECTED ONE-SHOTS. Especially in Shonen Jump. You never know when your manga is going to get cancelled, so you need to adapt and change your story at the fly. You may have a general outline of your story, but you can't flesh it out too much.

also 1000 pages should be your main goal as your paneling is the main thing that needs improvement

I'm still working on my new Manga. I've been working on, but we were moving to our new house, I missed placed my Manga. I asked my mom where she knew where it was and she said no clue. I'm also coming up with a different type of among the ideas band trying to focus on the one. It's so hard.😅😅❤❤

I got a webcomic with 300+ pages so far, and growing, it is my "second" comic following a 70 page comic, these two are purely for practice and experimenting for what I really want to do. Small, limited run comics across several genres. I am working on a one shot furry supernatural horror comic for next Halloween.

even though i've published multiple oneshots this video was still fun to watch edit: by oneshots i mean 20-30 page series