You've Read Enough Manga — Here's How to Start Creating Your Own
Direct Answers
What is the barrier to entry for creating your own manga?
The barrier to entry for creating your own manga is surprisingly low. You do not need a fancy setup or expensive art supplies to begin your journey.
You just need a few basic tools and the determination to practice consistently.
- Free online resources for drawing, anatomy, and storytelling
- Basic pencils and a stack of printer paper
- An affordable digital drawing tablet
Why should you create your own manga instead of just reading it?
Creating your own manga allows you to channel your lifelong passion for the medium into building a world of your own. Instead of spending all your time in someone else's universe, you can do work around something you genuinely enjoy.
It also lets you avoid repetitive tropes and introduce fresh concepts.
- It captures the childlike excitement of reading anime
- You get to share your unique worldview
- You have the final say on how your story unfolds
What skills do you learn by creating a manga series?
Creating a manga acts as a creative boot camp that forces you to juggle multiple art forms simultaneously. Even if your first series is not a massive success, you will walk away with a valuable set of abilities.
These skills can help launch a new career or improve your next project.
- Creative writing and storytelling
- Character design and anatomy
- Pacing and visual layout
- Inking and coloring techniques
How does manga allow for better self expression?
Comics and manga thrive on visual storytelling, letting you weave images and text into a highly personal experience. Turning a personal experience or a long held thought into a manga is an incredibly freeing process.
Unlike large studio projects, you have complete control over the final product.
- You dictate how the story unfolds
- You control how your characters act
- You design exactly how your world looks
Stop Living in Someone Else's Universe
You have read dozens of series, binged thousands of chapters, and lived in countless epic worlds. Yet it never crosses our minds to actually start our own series.
Why spend all that time in someone else's universe when you have the power to build your own? Stop hesitating and finally create your manga series.
It is the best decision you will ever make, and there is no better time to start than right now.
The Barrier to Entry is Lower Than You Think
All you need is time and determination. There are endless free resources teaching you how to draw and write entirely for free.
You have every tool you need at your disposal to learn anatomy, character design, and even advanced storytelling techniques. You do not need a fancy setup with expensive markers to begin.
Pencils, a stack of printer paper, or an affordable tablet is enough to get started. Consistency is the real magic ingredient, so show up and draw or write a little bit every day.
Channel Your Childlike Excitement
Reading manga gives you a childlike feeling of excitement. That kid in you who fell in love with manga is still there.
Now here you are years later still reading the latest volumes. That spark of excitement has not faded one bit.
You should channel all that unwavering love for manga into creating your own story. If you are going to spend a third of your life working, do work around something you actually enjoy.
The World Needs Your Unique Perspective
We need more unique stories, not more of the same repetitive tropes. We do not need another story about a loser with no social skills who gets transported to a fantasy world, or another guy who discovers he has demon powers inside him.
The world needs new ideas, new characters, and new stories. Your biggest advantage over everyone else is your own unique perspective.
Where you grew up, the relationships you have had, your life experience, and your worldview cannot be replicated. This allows you to tell a story that no one else can.
Gain Valuable Creative Skills
Even if you fail, you will gain valuable skill sets. Creating manga forces you to juggle many art forms at once, including writing, drawing, character design, pacing, inking, and coloring.
It is like an entire creative boot camp wrapped into one project. No other art form will challenge you the way that comics do.
Even if your first series does not become a global phenomenon, you will walk away with a treasure trove of skills. Plus, the more chapters you produce, the harder it is not to build some kind of audience.
Experience True Self Expression
You can express yourself through comics in a way that you could never do in other mediums. Manga thrives on visual storytelling, letting you weave images and text into an experience no other medium can match.
There is a story inside you that is dying to come out. It could be a personal experience or something that has been bothering you for years.
Turning that experience into a manga is incredibly freeing. You get the final say on how your story unfolds, how your characters act, and how your world looks.