If You Want to Turn Your Idea into a Story Concept Here Are 2 Things You Need to Do To
This is the second in a series explaining my process for creating a comic from idea to page. And I’m sharing any tips and tricks I learn along the way with you.
Last time I walked you through the process of creating a story idea for my comic. However, an idea is not a concept. An idea is a seed that we’ll want to grow it into a concept and then label with its genre.
Research
The first and most important thing you should do is research, especially if your story is based on reality or is a Sci-Fi webcomic like mine.
While doing research, I discovered the observer effect and the idea of global consciousness. Knowing that sports fans are stereotypically superstitious, I decided to combine these two theories. I came up with the idea to use quantum mechanics in a way in which a team having more fans will increase the chance of them winning.
This brings me to my next point.
Research in itself can also serve as a catalyst for more ideas. This will fuel more research, which can again fuel more research becoming a never-ending cycle. Eventually, you may go from not having any ideas to having too many. So be careful not to get caught up in concept creep. You’ll end up with a world so bloated that even you won’t be able to understand it.
So don’t be afraid to remove concepts that no longer work sometimes you can even mix and match the concepts.
Is your concept any good?
Once you have the concept flesh out don’t assume that it is perfect just yet. Tell people about your concept to see if people like it. But don’t just take yes for an answer. If someone really likes your idea they will want to add to it.
You might want to use an idea because it’s popular at the moment or others suggest it over and over. But that’s not always a good idea. Sometimes you might not have enough experience with the subject matter to use in your comic. In other words, you still need to write what you know.
At one point while creating the concepts for my story I was excited after just finishing the ninja war arc of Naruto I’m also a big Gundam fan. So I wanted to build my story centered around an all-out war too. I soon realized this is not something I would be good at as I spent most of my life watching sports and Battle anime like Dragon Ball Z.
Putting it all together
The concept reflects a future that could be possible on earth. Based on the rise of eSports and advancing technology like quantum computers. The threat of Ai requiring a universal basic income (UBI) and the potential impact cryptocurrency will have on the economy.
Now imagine a world in which this is all combined into one concept — a single device used for a majority of their life functions. It’s called a CSD short for Cyber Syncing Device.
It’s powered by Cyber.Beast an Ai that has a range of capabilities one of which is mining the qubits that back the economy’s cryptocurrency. It also fuels the Cyber.Beast but in order to get qubits, they must be taken from other Cyber.Beast they call it cyberspace mining.
Imagine this technology exists on a planet in which there are no animals only the Cyber.Beast that lives in Cyberspace. The only inhabitants are plants, dodder plants to be more specific. They have evolved to have what you may consider human characteristics.
The world is at peace and globalized. People can live where they want and yet still be part of the Network(country) they prefer. This means each person you see may live by the different laws of that Network and your CSD will inform you of them. Thanks to teleportation they are afforded the protection of that Network. Breaking the rules depending on severity will trigger intervention by Cybervators who can teleport to the scene.
The CSDs that house the Cyber.Beasts are basically quantum computers. They are able to categorize everyone based on their color type(like our blood type). It also collects data on their current and past behavior. This enables the CSD to make accurate predictions, determining a person’s best career path and the accompanying personalized education. Guiding them to do what they will be best at, maximizing citizens learning and earning potential.
The CSD also provides preventive health care giving them the best diet for their color type. When needed, medical care is completely customized to fit a person based on their color type as well as the data collected from them and others. So if you lived in this world, you would always have the right doctor for you.
It hasn’t always been this way. The fact that the world is run by two major corporations which they call Networks are holdovers from a past of conflict.
These tensions have been held at bay thanks to the world now being driven by a single combat sports league called the CNS — it’s a metaphor of eSports and the modern gladiator sport of football. The same Cybervators that protect the citizens also participate as athletes in this league using Ai called Cyber.Beast. The twist is that because of quantum mechanics fandom has an actual influence on the result of matches.
Results of CNS matches also have a meaningful impact society. The biggest of which is the UBI given to the citizen. The more teams within a Network wins, the more the citizens that support that network will earn in the form of a UBI.
Next up
After creating the concept you need to expand on it in terms of the setting, characters, and plot. In later posts, I will go into detail about building a setting, writing a world bible, and creating characters.
If you have any ideas or critiques for my concept please let me know in the comments. Also feel free to discuss your comic’s concept as well.
