Panelling, pacing, argh what a nightmare!
Its the bane of all writers! We ask ourselves, Is the story progressing well? Is the reader overloaded with too much story or are they being dragged through without much happening?
Just like a lot of things in comic making its a fine balancing act to try and get the pacing of your story just right.

As a comic maker myself, I struggle daily with these, Im no genius at this. But I can share with you what Ive learned so far and all the resources I?ve found on my little quest to make my very own comics!

First Ill start with some famous paperback books,

Scot McClouds "Understanding, reinventing, making comics" books
These are an excellent series of books, and a seriously recommended read to those who havent seen them yet.
At £15 to £20 a pop theyre a great quality for money. These books break down how comics are made and perceived by the reader by using the art of comicing making to do so! Making it visibly impressive and easy to understand. Short on cash? I recommend the first book, Understanding Comic or the last one, Making comics.

No cash at all?  Well fear not, here are some online tuts that could help out!

PANELING, PACING, & LAYOUT IN COMICS & MANGA #1 by Rivkah [link]

PANELING, PACING, & LAYOUT IN COMICS & MANGA #2 by Rivkah [link]


Comic Book Writers Guide Chapter 5: Pacing Your Story by Sean J. Jordan [link]

The information in these are rather priceless, helps you with the understanding how to get the best effect from you panel and word balloons to control the pacing of your comic pages.
Speaking from personal experience, I think some times the hardest part to the problem is identifying the problem. As a writer you get so caught up in your own little world and understand so many of the ins and outs of the plot that we forget that the reader isnt aware of everything that we are.
Another problem I find I come across is that went scripting I initially do the whole 22 pages in brief and plan out everything 3 pages in advance in thumbs. So because the plot is literally racing ahead of me and Im constantly flickering back and forth from what pages Im currently creating to what pages needs adjusting 2 weeks down the line that the whole things becomes squashed or you get bored of the current situation and want to race to the good part! At these times you need stop. Dont rush anything for the sake of it! The pace of the comic should be controlled by the situation in the comics world, such a fast one for a fight or a slow one for setting a scene and not by your mood an easy mistake to make and one that needs to be kept on top of.

Anyway, I do hope this helps anyone and Im glad I could share it with you. Ive learned a lot from this experience and I might submit more fantastic resources as I find them!

by =Elixia-Dragmire