There are so many different skills in making a webcomic. Art, storytelling, layout, and fonts are all aspects you might look for when you sit down for an editing session. Editing for webcomics can also happen before the page goes live and after. But how do you decide where you want to put your energy, and when?  We can think of the process in four tiers:

Tier 1 - Proofreading

Proofreading is the first basic tier.  We all spell things wrong sometimes, forget to draw the buckle on someone’s boot, or other small details that are definitely incorrect. These can usually be caught by any beta reader or reader.

When to make these changes: These are usually some of the last things you’re going to fix on your draft page, and the first things readers will notice. They don’t typically take a lot of energy to fix, so most creators will usually address them right away as-needed.

Tier 2 - Rendering Fixes

The next step out from that is rendering fix, which might involve anatomy or perspective.  While this is occasionally an issue, it’s the kind of problem that an artist will often notice very much and a reader will notice very little.

When to make these changes: Rendering the art is often a pretty time consuming process. Artists can spend a lot of energy on this tier, but in webcomics, we’re going to be making a lot of drawings and getting better at them all the time. Editing goals too focused on “drawing the same thing, only better” can be a moving target. Remember, as long as what you’ve drawn is recognizable, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Tier 3 - Visual Clarity Fixes

Visual clarity is about a lot of different things, but what it boils down to is “can the reader tell what is happening”. If you’re distracting the reader too much visually with your layout or lettering or rendering choices, they might not even be able to tell what’s going on, and that will disorient them. Things to keep in mind for this:

• Making sure text bubbles aren’t blocking the action and are being read in the correct order
• Making sure the font is readable
• Making character designs distinct enough so that you can tell who’s in the scene
• Making sure body language is understandable and readable
• Lightening, darkening, or otherwise keeping colors from clashing unintentionally
• Zooming out enough to see the environment so readers know where the action is happening
• Zooming in to see facial expressions so readers know what characters are feeling
• Keeping the line of action and panel order easy to follow
• Following the 180 rule

Keep an eye out for cinematography and paneling tips to help with this!

When to make these changes: Visual clarity is something you want to consider as soon as a drawn draft is created.  Edits for visual clarity can also be time consuming and require some redrawing, so they are best tackled after a few months when you have some breathing room after your deadline is met. Some creators take a break between chapters and just do cleanup of the stuff that their readers found confusing. Maybe you want to wait until you get closer toward making a print volume.  Whatever is sustainable for your schedule and goals!

Hopefully the longer you keep at making comics, the less you’ll really have to change in your visuals because most artists get the hang of it after a while.

Tier 4 - Developmental Editing

If visual clarity addresses WHAT is happening, developmental editing addresses WHY is it happening. Many creators get stuck with meandering beginnings, might feel stuck to ideas that they no longer like, or have placed breadcrumbs that never went anywhere. Editing on this tier might mean changing dialog, removing or adding panels and pages, and more.

For these deep-dive edits, pull in critique groups beyond your normal circle, take a look at reader feedback, and/or hire a developmental editor to ensure that you’re getting balanced views that will help you bring things in line with your future vision.

When to make these changes:  Developmental drafts happen as soon as you write out the concept or outline, and to whatever extent you can, it’s good to address any problems you can find in this stage.

However, we can definitely outgrow our ideas as we go, so if you want to make edits on a developmental level, it’s good to give this a solid amount of time to see where the story did go and what the earlier pages need to be edited to support.

Another practical reason to wait is so that the details fade a bit from your readers’ memories. Readers won’t typically remember the details of what happened, but how they felt afterwards, so giving it a few years ensures most major changes won’t disorient current readers

How do we practice editing?

It’s tricky to edit your work when you’re still in the middle of it, both because we can feel frustrated about unskilled at the beginning, or we might not recognize the deeper issues that visual clarity fixes and developmental editing would fix, in favor of the quick fixes.  Coming to an understanding of the merits and weaknesses in your work takes practice and attention, but also a constructive and willing attitude.

If you’re having trouble figuring out where to focus and how to keep your spirits up in the process, try:

• Asking a peer: Asking a peer who likes your work “what’s really working for you, what am I best at”, and taking a few of those responses, comparing them to YOUR gut feelings about what’s working for you, and building on highlighting those.
• Celebrating your work: Framing your editing session as an act of celebrating the parts you love, bringing that good stuff to the foreground and pruning away the things that are holding it back.  
• Looking for emergent themes: Seeing what good thematic patterns are emerging already and look for more places where you can replace an underperforming scene with something that reinforces that pattern intentionally.
• Getting inspired: Looking at other works that you enjoy and see what makes them tick.
• Complimenting a peer’s work: Talking to a webcomic friend about what you liked about their work and how they came up with it, and asking about their process. Whatever you learn, you can bring that energy and knowledge back to your own work, and they may have recommendations for you too!

Editing is a tool for building, and using it should be a normal part of your process.

Fiction in other mediums go through multiple drafts, with multiple writers and editors, because it often takes a lot of work to figure things out. It’s a very normal part of the process, so don’t be discouraged!  As webcomic creators, we can get REAL hard on ourselves for not making things perfectly the first time, and that’s not healthy or productive.

Editing, like other aspects of making comics, also gets easier with practice! Start with a smaller scope and work your way up to larger editing sessions.

In whatever way make sense for your goals and process, practice and enjoy the fun puzzle-solving aspects of editing, and making everything click together to be the best it can be!