Source: @Tencent Animation World Style Feature

Webtomicists are starting to appear more and more in people's field of vision.

If the term "webtoonist" had been mentioned two years ago, more people would have the impression that they were "people who couldn't be serialized in magazines", "people who couldn't publish a single book", and "people who drew and played". Nowadays, however, more and more excellent artists have begun to embark on the road of "online serial debut", and webtoons are not inferior to physical magazines in terms of popularity and dissemination, and even in the forefront of physical magazines in terms of animation of their works. The addition of a large number of professional cartoonists has made the image of "amateur" webcartoonists disappear. So, how do webtoon artists create their work? For those who are strong enough, why would they abandon magazines in favor of the Internet?

In order to answer these questions, we specially invited Tsukizo, the author of "Mountains and Rivers", to uncover the living conditions of webtoonists.

Degrees of freedom, the fatal attraction of webtoons

China's comic market - the troubled times before the heyday

The brick-and-mortar magazine industry is shrinking.

This is not just what the editor said in the Internet industry, from the general direction, the circulation of mature physical comic magazines is gradually declining. For example, Shonen Jump, the world's largest circulation in the world, rose in circulation in the 90s of the 20th century, reaching a staggering 6.53 million copies in 1995 on Nos. 3-4, and now that number is less than half of its peak, oh, although the magazine's pricing has also risen a lot (and there is still a gap between the increase in prices).

The days of the boss are like this, not to mention the younger brothers, a few days ago, it was reported that the circulation of the serialized magazine "Shonen SUNDAY", which is known as the "three major shonen manga magazines" and "Conan" and "Silver Key", has fallen below 500,000 copies. There are many reasons for this kind of thing, and with the rise of the Internet, the change in people's reading habits is probably the main reason. Since things like "intelligence" and "illustrations" are difficult to hold, it is better to put them generously for everyone to watch - that's right, that's what Shueisha does. Although it doesn't have the texture of holding a magazine in your hand, compared to the quality of "Shonen JUMP", which is like butt paper, the online version is really clear and makes people want to cry.

Of course, we must speak strictly, and we can't just pick and choose what is good for us. The circulation of "Bosom Friend" is indeed going all the way up, and that's because China's entire animation industry chain is immature. What does an immature market take to make a full-fledged comic magazine? In the ascending period, a qiē is possible.

From another point of view, the distribution volume of "Bosom Friend" after accounting for the best channel reflects how big the potential cake of the Chinese animation market is. In a potential market where everything is possible, a gun is the king of grass. Japanese publishers have entered China to snatch this wasteland of animation gold, and local magazines are not to be outdone, plus various original websites participate in the war, which can be described as a troubled era of the Warring States.

Good birds choose trees to perch, especially in troubled times. On the one hand, there are senior but declining foreign monks, on the other hand, there are decent local monks, and on the other hand, there are wild monks who can eat meat if they basically do not obey the law through the Internet.

Quickly becoming popular VS conformist

A large part of the comic fans and authors who have grown up watching the day have a soft spot for magazine serialization.

Naturally, there is a taste of love and black, but I'm afraid it's more because the cartoons in the magazine are particularly counterparting. How can it be so right?

"The biggest difference between a magazine and a webtoon is the stylistic difference!" Yuezang, the author of "Mountains and Rivers Society Diagram", has experienced magazine serialization and online serialization, and is particularly touched by this. "Domestic physical comic magazines are dominated by the Izuku Publishing Agency, which are generally produced with a fixed template, including the type of story and visual style, and will give considerable reference materials, and the author should create according to the same. The advantage of this is that you can quickly cut into this mainstream Japanese reading masses.,The disadvantage is that imitation works are easy to be superficial.,Can't come from the heart (bad taste),So compared with genuine Japanese comics,The maturity will be a little shorter.。 ”

It is precisely because of the tailor-made medicine that the comic serialized in the magazine is popular quickly.

"The circulation rate of the magazine is not actually the focus, because the strategy of the physical publishing industry is to 'directly imitate the mainstream', so the results are very fast, and it can immediately attract readers who are already used to reading." When you can serialize in a magazine, you prove that you are under the jurisdiction of the editors of that magazine, and you are also entering the template of the story. What kind of stories are more popular with readers, how popular... These seem mysterious, but in fact, there are universal templates within a certain range.

"There will be a template for the physical comics, such as: the Demon King Conspiracy 2-4 pages, the protagonist appearance event 4-8 pages, the protagonist involved in the conspiracy 6-10 pages... For each section, there will be a fixed practice. As a person who has come over, Tsukizo explained, "When you look at physical comics, you will have a feeling of 'all complete, but very regular'. ”

Not everyone can stand this rule, so when webtoons rose, many comic practitioners chose the Internet.

For freedom! Draw whatever you want

The fatal attraction of webtoons is actually the degree of freedom.

Serialization in magazines is actually subject to double restrictions - magazine template restrictions and physical industry edition restrictions. The latter prescribes a large number of subjects that cannot be touched and pictures that cannot be painted.

But webtoons can basically not manage a set at all.

Except for the subject matter of checking the water meter and drinking tea, you can basically draw whatever you want. Whether it's a zombie, a supernatural or a sidekick selling meat, whether it's a fandom or a spoof, as long as you draw, there will be readers who will buy it to share your bad taste. You don't even have to think about whether this arrangement of images will affect the reader's enthusiasm for turning the page - everyone is pulling down to read it!

Even in terms of serialization time, webtoons enjoy incomparable freedom. Weekly, biweekly, pages, weeks... These things all depend on the painter's schedule. There are no endless deadlines or painful page limits. Even if you end up as a contract writer, you have a lot more freedom in this regard than in physical magazines.

But does this mean that as long as you have enough talent and passion, you can easily become a popular webtoon artist? No.

Endurance and planning – a webtoon artist is a rational worker

Many people think that being a webtoon artist is a fun job, and that's true; But it's naïve to think that you can stick with it just because it's fun.

Endurance – the most important trait of a successful webtoon artist

Drawing is very boring. Even for those who like to draw, drawing is very boring.

When you occasionally draw a beautiful girl or a handsome guy in a single sheet, you may find it interesting and fulfilling. But when you start drawing the same girl or handsome guy ten times, hundreds, or thousands of times, you have to draw it all day, every day, not to mention that even the repetitive actions are the same: drafting, drawing, dotting/coloring, and you have to maintain the level of the picture - believe me, there are only a few people who still find it interesting.

The world is often like this, with enthusiasm to devote yourself to it, only to find that it is different from what you think.

In fact, successful webtoonists and their seeded players are all people who have a combination of interest and stamina, oh, and a little bit of rationality.

Becoming popular is strength + luck, and persistence is rationality + planning

In fact, planning is quite important for webtoon artists.

From the moment you step into a webtoon, you should understand two things:

1. Webtoon carriers often do not have as convenient channels for publishing editions as physical magazines, and the proportion of publishing is much lower (of course, follow-up derivation, gamification, animation...) As far as China is concerned, it is more convenient to use online platforms), and you will probably only have to pay for manuscripts for a long time.

2. You often don't have a dime before you sign an agreement to eat the manuscript fee to prove yourself.

In this regard, the construction of Yuezang is to "calculate the opportunity cost and risk cost clearly":

"First of all, why do you draw comics? If it's 'I love comics!' I'd rather die than paint! Then leave the income alone and draw! Because you will be unhappy if you do anything else. But these people usually say that they will give up when they really encounter an income that is less than the basic expenses. So, why draw comics? Actually, I want to be popular, right? Then I received high royalties, lived a leisurely life, and said that I wanted my work to be seen by more people, right? Then, whether it is popular or not, in addition to luck, can look at three conditions: 1-your own ability, 2-the potential of the work you have chosen, and 3-the real environment. Therefore, we should look at this matter with investment, and set up an investment amount and a stop loss point. "Think of comics as an investment – don't worry about temporary profits and losses, set goals, and constantly revise your products. This statement seems fresh and utilitarian, but it is actually to the point.

"We chose to draw comics because we wanted to know where the opportunities were, and at the same time, we also had to know where the opportunities were when we gave up comics and did other jobs. Compare the two to know what kind of opportunity cost you have invested in comics. In the same way, when making comics and doing other work, you have to assess the risks. When you know these two things, you won't be afraid of situations. ”

Webtomicist is a brand

Is it enough to have enough patience and good planning? No. Because of the higher degree of freedom, webtoon artists are more likely to give up when they encounter a low period, which is commonly known as "eunuch".

How can I not be imprisoned? Tsukizo feels that webtoon artists should see themselves as a brand.

"The cartoonist himself has to see himself as a brand, and if you are a eunuch, the brand cannot be accumulated. No one can stop you by choosing this approach, but you are also adding more obstacles to your future. Don't talk about the sense of responsibility, talk about the actual interests, the eunuch is equivalent to self-destruction of the brand, the next time you want to publish the work, the reader's support rate will be greatly reduced, are you willing to pay such a price? If you will, then eunuch! Let those who choose to persevere, be recognized by the reader, and let those who choose eunuchs, be forgotten, it'syourcall. When you're at a low point, you have to think: If you're not drawing comics today, but doing something else, will there be a low? In fact, life is full of lows, and it has nothing to do with whether or not you draw comics. What we mean by endurance is that when you encounter a trough, you can survive it, your work is welcomed, and you can still stick to your original intention; If you hit a low point and choose to give up, then let those who can persevere stay! You don't fit, goodbye don't send. ”

That's true for a solo webtoonist, but what about a duo?

Don't be superstitious about Dream Eater: double the risk with double the stakes in two players

There are more people who want to be cartoonists, and the influence of "Dream Eater" is indispensable.

"Dream Eater" presents a new opportunity to realize your dreams: to learn from each other's strengths and forge their dreams together. This is so tempting that some painters who can only draw and not make up stories, and some writers who can only write scripts and can't draw are excited. Coupled with the fact that Ken Obata himself is a successful duo – Yumi Horita in the front and Thrush in the back – makes the duo look very convincing.

It's significantly easier to find a partner online than a small-scale brick-and-mortar magazine, and as a result, many webtoon artists have been inspired to go the path of two-person collaboration.

Will things be so easy? Of course not! At least within the scope of the editor's exposure, the two-person cooperation ended in tragedy in the majority, why?

Text-to-comics, a difficult job

An adaptation of a mature novel into a comic book might be better – if the author of the novel had authorized the painter to rectify it.

But novels and scripts, scripts and comics are all completely different things, and in some cases they simply span a lot. For example:

In the novel, the two of them sprayed each other, and they revealed the secret of the shady, spraying a whole page, it's very cool to watch, right?

It becomes a comic, the two of them spray each other, there is no scene transition, you come and go, you don't let go of memories to kill, one page, two pages, three pages, and ten pages all the time, a close-up of the two people changing the law, and it's all words-want to vomit, right?

The process of turning a novel with delicate and sensual language into a script that can be accurately described, and then into a picture full of expressive power is more difficult than generally imagined. For webtomicists, there is no scope where they can sit together in the same city and discuss, there is no friendship of editing and dragging out to eat at the same table, and in the face of cold network cables and keyboards, two people with completely different perceptions of this want to work together to the end, and the difficulty can be imagined.

What's more, both of them have different low periods.

Therefore, the duo's webtoon practitioners must do a good job of risk assessment.

If you don't start, you won't have experience

"Turning a story into a comic is a difficult project in itself. Without such a realization and without the determination to pay such a price, they rashly pursue such a goal. Of course, there will be a higher level of risk. I've been emphasizing experience, but don't get me wrong, it's not like, 'If you don't have this experience, don't do it', but 'You have to think about what tests you will face if you don't have enough experience,' and then after understanding the risks, go ahead and do it! If you don't do it, you'll never have experience. ”

epilogue

From a passion to a process that requires patience, to a rational control of the whole. In fact, it's not just a cartoonist, it's all the same for all jobs. Webman is very free, Webman is wonderful, Webman is growing, and Netman has a broader future. But before you get involved, you may need a plan, a little determination, and some perseverance. Entering the industry is risky, and partners need to be cautious. If you are conscious enough, then let the horses come!