I get a lot of asks telling me about how my comics gave the senders ALL THESE FEELS, as well as questions asking me how I do what I do. Honestly, I’m still of the firm belief that I’m nothing spectacular, and there’s plenty of reason for people to agree with me on that. My comic art is nowhere near high-quality. It’s simple, fast, sketchy, and by all means messy. There are hundreds of artists in the Homestuck fandom that draw things that are thousands of times more beautiful than the things that I do. But people keep coming to me going absolutely apeshit about my comics.

So what’s my secret? How the fuck is a 10-panel, sketchy photoset comic about Bro and Dave getting nearly 15,000 notes?

Here are some things you should keep in mind if you want to do what I do.

1. If you want to make comics of ANY length, focus on your writing, not your art. You can present people 500 pages of the most flawless artwork known to man, but if there’s no story to be had in a format that markets itself as having a story to tell, very few people are going to care about it.
2. Have a basic understanding of pacing and comedic timing. If you’re writing funny strips, for God’s sake, know how to set up a joke and execute it. Take into account the length that your strip is going to be, and make a sequence chart if you have to to help you organize your thoughts.
3. Make sure your message is clear. Holy fuck. We learned that lesson, didn’t we?
4. If you really think your artwork needs improvement, focus on facial expressions and body language. If you can’t express the emotions of your character through their faces, you could present the saddest story ever and the point would be lost because your character looks like they’re just staring blankly off into space instead of grieving/sobbing/whatever. Body language is also a really great way to express things like love, fear, anger, jealousy, suspicion, and discomfort without words. You can establish the relationship between two characters in a single panel with effective use of body language and facial expression and absolutely zero dialogue.
5. Believe in your message. People will know if you’re faking it.

Keep these things in mind and you’ll be on the road to stabbing everyone in the heart just like good ol’ Scarvenrot. <3