Behind the Scenes: The Flow of Things! (Patreon)

Hello my lovely Chef's Knife crew! 🔪✨

Today I'm pulling back the curtain to show you lot how my comic-making process has evolved. Spoiler alert: it's gotten way more phone-friendly!

Remember the old days of "Stop Talking" back in 2022?

Look at that traditional comic layout! While it's got that classic charm we all know and love, planning these pages was like trying to solve a puzzle whilst blindfolded. Plus, let's be honest, when was the last time you printed out a webcomic? Exactly! Most of you are probably reading this on your mobile phones right now, aren't you? 😏

The traditional format felt a bit too bogged down for my skillset and intended reading medium. So I thought to myself, "Knife, darling, there's got to be a better way!" And oh boy, was there...

And that's where my brilliant friend stepped in last year with a game-changing suggestion: "Have you thought about webtoon format?"

Oh.

YOU GUYS. Gamechanger. I am TELLING you!

Look at this beauty! Not only does it flow better, but the whole approach to planning had to change. Instead of getting stuck in the quicksand of traditional panel layouts (which was honestly killing my motivation), I could focus on what actually matters - telling the story!

The truth is, I was spending so much time wrestling with traditional comic layouts that the original "Stop Talking" started gathering dust in my WIP folder. My skills at the time just weren't matching up with what I wanted to achieve, and instead of learning and growing, I felt like I was just...stuck. 😮‍💨

But with the webtoon format? It's like the comic equivalent of switching from a flip phone to a smartphone - same basic function, but SO much more intuitive!

Now THIS is where the magic happens, folks! Instead of playing 4D chess with panel layouts, I only need to think about one direction: ⬇️ DOWN WE GO!

See those arrows I've sketched in? That's your eyeballs' journey down the page! Notice how it does this satisfying little dance - like a skier going down a slope, smoothly weaving left to right, right to left. No more playing "Where do I look next?" with your readers! 🎿

The best part? When I'm sketching out these drafts, I can actually focus on the fun stuff - you know, the actual STORY and CHARACTERS? 😱 Revolutionary, I know! It's like my brain suddenly had all this extra space that wasn't being used up by complicated panel puzzles.

Now, observe the flow below.

See the dialogue? Oh my days, the DIALOGUE! Look at how it flows with the characters (or sometimes playfully against them). It's like a choreographed dance, but instead of two left feet, we've got speech bubbles doing the cha-cha down the page! 🕺💬

The secret sauce here is making sure readers don't get stuck on one side of their phone screen for too long - nobody likes to be bored! So we keep that slalom pattern going, keeping things interesting as you scroll. It's like giving your eyes a little adventure without making them work for it! The best thing is, there are times where it doesn't matter if the reader's eyes fall on the dialogue or the character/action first, or against the intended flow. Sometimes reader's will do their own thing. But, if the story still makes sense no matter where the eyes flit to first for the majority of your panels, then you know you're on the right track!

Now, if you're ever stuck with ideas of how to approach a webtoon "flow", a good thing to do is by opening up a series of webtoons, save a few random pages, and then draw a line down the page of where your eyes fall. You'll start to see this very same slalom pattern. Left to right, right to left, keeping the reader moving and engaged as they scroll down the page.

There's another thing to consider as well, and that is pacing!

Notice how the slalom is a mixture of tight squiggles vs long sweeping turns. Sure, we don't want the reader to be stuck on one point of the screen for too long, but sometimes we do for effect! Tighter lines - quickly moving your eyes left to right and vice-versa - gives the effect of quicker and more urgent pacing. Sweeping lines, or extended periods of keeping the reader's attention on one point of the screen as they scroll, indicates slower transitions. Slower, more languid lines mean slower, more languid time. Great for building up tension!

Play around and experiment with flow when you plan your next scrolling comic! You can also show me what you have in the works, I'd love to see what you've learned too 💖