WEBTOON Advanced How to Write Your Proposal
GCC Academy
Hello, I'm Yang Hye-rim,
I am a Webtoon story writer
and I teach at the School of Manhwa Contents, Chungkang University
I give lectures in the field of storytelling
I’m here to discuss storytelling with you,
particularly focusing on the planning aspect
So far, we’ve already done quite a lot
First, we found a theme
Then we created a protagonist who best represents it
We also built a story centered around
their meaningful changes
Now, what should we do with this story?
A story known only to oneself has little value
Though, it might be too strong to say that
there are stories we may want to keep to ourselves
without sharing it to anybody,
such as diaries or essays
or deeply personal narratives
But those types of stories are a bit different
from the direction of this course
If we’re dreaming of becoming writers,
it doesn’t mean we’ll write stories
only for ourselves
It means we want to show our stories to others
So how do we do this?
We could show by writing
That’s right, we could directly release the finished work
If it’s a short story, that might be sufficient
Do your best, upload it to a website
and wait for readers’ reactions
But what if you’re aiming
for a long-form work with 50 or 100 episodes?
Let's show them
That's a good idea, very ambitious
but how long would it take
to complete a 100-episode Webtoon?
Let’s say you draw one episode per week
A year has 50 weeks, so maybe two years?
The answer is no
Even if given three, four, or even five years
I doubt a Webtoon artist could complete
100 episodes on their own
Why? Because creators often
don’t work without deadlines
While there are disciplined creators
who work steadily without deadlines,
even for them, they often spend some time
creating something before releasing it to a platform
We call this a saved manuscript
You've probably heard
of this term, saved manuscript, before this class
Here’s an interesting fact I discovered
while working with many artists
Even those who can complete an episode per week
take about four weeks to complete a one saved manuscript episode
Saved manuscripts take three to four times longer
to produce than serialized one
How is it even possible to create weekly episodes?
When I ask artists about this, because one manuscript
takes three weeks, they all say this
I don't know how I manage this
That's the power of deadlines
What I'm trying to say is,
preparing a 100 or 200 episodes at once
to pitch the whole package to a platform
or show to readers
is extremely difficult
That's why we need proposals
Today, we’ll learn about proposals
Types of Proposals
Students often come to me
asking for story consultations
And I always tell them this
Send me your proposal, and I'll review that
And this throws some students off
They say, I don't write one!
So I say, there is no way!
There’s no way you’ve never written a proposal
But they insist that they just don't
But I disagree, because of this reason
I categorize two main types of proposals
One is a working proposal meant for the writer
The other is a submission proposal meant for others
Some people might wonder
why do you need one for yourself?
It’s because planning is a continuous process
You don’t just finish it in one go
I’ll finish planning from 9 to 10 AM today
It won't work
Even if you dedicate an entire day to planning
it won't end, and planning only ends
when serialization ends
Once you hear what I'm about to say, it’ll make sense
Have you ever had a great idea
but couldn’t remember it the next day?
That happens to me quite often
Or maybe you thought of a brilliant character dynamic
This character and that character can interact this way
But a few days later
you realize that it does not make sense
That happens to me quite often as well
Let met give you an example from my own case
It's about the first meeting between characters A and B
I thought it’d be great if A and B first meet at this party
So I wrote that down
But when I looked at it again a few days later
I realized that character B
was supposed to be studying abroad
So there’s no way they could’ve met
So I had to scrap that
Meaning, I need something else
Is it because I just happen to have a bad memory?
Maybe some don't
Partially, that's true
I don't have the best memory
But I’d argue
that no matter how sharp or talented a writer is
it’s impossible to keep all the elements
of a long-term story store in their head
If it’s not in your head
where should it go?
Your working proposal
I say the word proposal to describe this
so you might imagine a formal, structured document
like one you’d submit for approval
But that’s not what I mean
A working proposal is for the writer's eyes only
Since it’s just for you
there’s no need to adhere to a specific format
In fact, you probably already have one
The reason for it is this
So far, we’ve brainstormed ideas
created protagonists, and built story structures
How did you do all that?
Very few people manage all of this entirely in their heads
If you picture a protagonist as having black hair and pale skin
you’ll forget about 70% of those details by the next day
Even if I don’t explicitly tell my students
that they should write this one down
writers instinctively record things somewhere
It might be in a HWP or Word document
a phone memo
or a specialized app
Popular apps
include those like Evernote or Notion
They let you move between your computer
and your mobile device seamlessly
So you can save the same content
anytime, anywhere
Another thing is, records for yourself, as a writer
don’t need to be perfect or even be contradictory
It’s fine if character designs change daily
Even random scribbles are okay
For instance, you might write something like
he protagonist is heading to the villain’s base
but suddenly, their foot itches
Wait, what? That's fine
Even if it’s nonsense, you're the writer
Or you might write internal monologues
Should I just get rid of this character?
I don't really like him
The purpose of this
is to record your thoughts
What's important is
to keep track of the most recent updates
Should I keep or remove this character?
If the decision was to keep them
The information about that decision
And another about something undecided
Where did A meet B?
It's undecided
You need to mark all the information like so
To summarize, the point of a working proposal lies
in properly recording ideas and information necessary for creation
and updating those records
in alignment with the progress of creation
A submission proposal is entirely different
When you think of the word proposal
you're likely thinking about this one
A working proposal is designed for the writer
to organize and grasp the entirety of their story
A submission proposal is created for one purpose
to be selected
That word, selection, may sound unpleasant
Who is going to select who?
Simple, those who serve as the bridge
connecting your work to the readers
If this seems vague, think of specific examples
Platform producers, contest judges, or publishing editors
A working proposal is a document for your own working process
even before you start writing the manuscript
that helps you store all information about your story
it acts like a storage space
A submission proposal is a sales document
It is to assist the decision-making process
for those who connect your work to its readers
It should help them decide that it is worth serializing
It is a document designed to get chosen
Its primary goal is to effectively convey information
about the work you want to create
The key to this is
why should this work be chosen?
Why is this worth serializing?
It should really
clearly demonstrate this
Even those reading your proposal
don’t have unlimited freedom of choice
To put it bluntly, in a contest
the number of winners is predetermined
It specifies how many spots for awards are there
While the number of serializations on platforms might seem infinite
though it actually is compared to those on magazines
they are still somewhat limited
For example, even if 100 highly skilled
comic creators submit their work simultaneously
it would be impossible to serialize all 100 works
Because of this selection process
your proposal must show
that this story is compelling
and that your story aligns with the target audience
that the platform or the contest is looking for
It must resonate with the intended readers
I’m a professional, I’m ready
and I can start serializing immediately
That should be your appeal
A working proposal can have a loose format and content
I talked about internal monologues
something about errors
or something you're unsure about
They are all okay
But not for a submission proposal
But it's still incomplete
I don't know yet
Well, act as if you do
No proposals are ever perfect
It's completed once the work itself is finalized
At this stage
it’s perfectly natural for writers to have parts
they don’t fully know about yet
But do not leave blank spaces in the document
or write things like, I don't know yet
Because I see cases
where the proposal says that the ending could change
You cannot do this
It’s not that the ending can’t change
Here’s a common misunderstanding
Once you've written something in the proposal
if it changes, it breaks the contract
Therefore, if it says this character dies, they should die
That's not true
I'm just saying, do not write
that something is open to changes
All stories that are not finished
are open to changes, of course
the platform producers
and contest judges who review hundreds of works
know this very well
But if they see a note saying the ending could change
or this character could be gone
it makes the writer
appear unprepared and unprofessional
They know, so no need to point that out
In other words
if you're in for a job interview
and you're asked, what do you want to do at this company?
You say, I will work hard!
You will work hard, but in fact
if the job isn't a good fit, you may leave
They know that, so no need to point that out
The same logic applies
Think of it as an interview
or more like a job application
One of the most common questions I receive is
What's the template?
So I ask, what template do you want?
And students are disappointed
They seem to expect that a professor teaching storytelling
will have some ultimate
standardized form for proposals
That's the common assumption
But the truth is, there isn’t one perfect template
Even on a search engine
people search for the template
I guess it's become a habit for some of you
to search for a template online
There are many templates out there
But they differ a bit from each other
I also think one can always personalize theirs
But here's one thing I can say
The most ideal template for a proposal
is the one proposed by the reader of that proposal
If you're submitting a proposal
it's usually for a platform or an agency
or even for a contest
Many platforms already provide
their own proposal templates
They say, please fill out this form and submit it
They don’t expect writers to create their own
Some writers find their own files too valuable to alter
or the information in there
and they may want to use that
Or, to be more honest
they're too lazy to adjust the format
So people just send their own formats
in my opinion
this is highly inappropriate
and ultimately, it works to their disadvantage
The purpose of submitting a file
is to request serialization for your work
If you don’t even put in the effort
it’s likely to be perceived as a lack of commitment
Since I mentioned job interviews earlier
let me draw another comparison
Imagine you’re in a job interview, and the interviewer asks
give me an acrostic poem using your name
So most people will do that
But what if you say
I have memorized a classical Chinese poem, and I’d like to recite it for you
Will this make a good impression?
I don't think so
Many platforms have templates
So using a different template
will result in the same thing
Components of a Proposal
That said, there are definitely common elements
that most proposals typically require
Let’s focus on those key elements now
First, your name, which is obvious
But I have something to say about this
Some platforms ask for a pseudonym
and others, both real name and a pseudonym
I’ve seen people who are reluctant to share their real name
Some even refuse to give their real name
However, this is somewhat meaningless
If you end up signing a contract with them
you’ll need to give your real name and personal ID number anyway
If you feel strongly about
not disclosing your real name
I’d suggest including it in the proposal
but adding a note about it during the contract phase
If that's very important
you can just add it to the contract
I find it meaningless to not submit
your real name at all
Same with the title of the work
Many people say they haven’t decided on a title yet
I get it, the title is very important
But obsessing over the meaningful title
may make you think that you can't give it a bad one
Untitled, or still undecided, these are unacceptable
You need something
This may feel like pressure
You can add something like working title
If you really have no idea
Springtime Love Story, parenthesis, working title
You can do that
But Untitled, that may give the impression
that the writer isn’t fully invested in the submission
So have one
Here's another tip about the title
It may depend on the genre
but the title might need to stand out significantly
This is especially important for submissions
The person reviewing your proposal
needs to actually read your proposal
If your title grabs their attention
giving them a sense of what the story is about
it might make them
more inclined to read your proposal thoroughly
It's not something you should do
but many writers choose to name their works
using very strong titles
Of course, the title might change
once the work enters serialization
but for the purposes of the proposal
something really funny and interesting
can encourage them to read further
It could be, as we say
like a clickbait for the title
People often do this
However, as I mentioned earlier
this may depend on the genre
I suggest you adjust it
according to the genre of your work
Speaking of genre
you have to write your work's genre
What’s the best way to indicate the genre?
Many people struggle with this
because they think genres are fixed
That's not true
Especially in Webtoon, genres are highly fluid
depending on the market
What is the market
currently calling works like this?
How are others labeling it?
What would make sense to someone reading it?
For example, if a proposal 10 years ago
says Ro-fan for romance fantasy
judges would not have understood this
But today, using Ro-fan as the genre is acceptable
If a judge doesn’t understand it
they might be lacking qualifications
Ro-fan has become
an established genre for quite a while now
So evaluators are able to assess works
based on such standards
This also means
you shouldn’t use terms for your genre that the judges
platform producers, or others evaluating your work
might not understand
Sometimes, people get overly creative
For instance, Dark Bluish Romance
That's the genre, but very vague
Or they can use their own name, for example
Hyerim Yang's style School Drama
Who's that? I mean, there's no good response to give
Though, the intention is clear
You want to provide
additional information
about the work through the genre label
But it may not work
I suggest you use straightforward
commonly understood terms that are used in the market now
Estimated episode count, this is more common now
Writers often agonize over this
Usually, it goes something like this
I don’t know if it’ll be 72 or 73 episodes
I mean, neither I nor you can know
We can't predict the exact number of episodes
because the work hasn't started it serialization
At the proposal stage, a rough estimate
of several dozen episodes, is enough
The platform or contest organizers
also expect that much
If you say 103 episodes, that will make them wonder
Why 103 episodes?
Why not 102?
Here's a little tip
If a new writer submits an big estimated episode count
it might be too much for
platforms or contest organizers
This isn’t discrimination against new writers
aiming for long-term works
I once saw a new writer’s proposal
with an estimated count of 900 episodes
Even if we assume that’s a long-term work
and that it's realistic assumption
dividing it into weekly chapters
how may years is that?
I'm not good at math, I can't be sure
Is it 18 years? It is
It would take roughly 18 years, nonstop
to finish all 900 episodes
So giving a new writer the space for such a massive project
could feel like a risky commitment
And people will wonder if it's ever possible
It’s not about saying new writers
shouldn’t tackle large-scale works
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece
was his first serialized work
and it spans over 100 volumes
We don’t know if Oda
initially submitted a proposal with such a long estimate
It’s possible that the initial plan was for fewer episodes
and as the serialization succeeded
new episodes were added on top of each other
As we’ve mentioned before
the second act of a story can always expand
it’s practically designed for that purpose
So for a new writer presenting the manuscript
to a platform for the first time
it’s a good idea to provide
a realistic episode estimate
Still, if you truly want to serialize continuously for 18 years
you could consider breaking your story into seasons
As we learned, structured with the small three-act framework
Try summarizing it into a single episode
and estimate how many episodes that would require
Breaking the story into smaller pieces
might be a more practical approach
Next is target audience
This is something I’ve mentioned
as something to consider
even when brainstorming ideas
Some people just write the age group
like teenagers or those in 30s
I think that's fine
Because, based on my experience
a 31-year-old and a 39-year-old don’t differ drastically in terms of taste
But between an 11-year-old and a 19-year-old
there is a big difference in taste
Content that appeals to an 11-year-old won’t resonate with a 19-year-old
content that a 19-year-old enjoys
isn’t appropriate for an 11-year-old
When defining the target age for Webtoon
we usually go with early teens, mid-teens, and late teens
For older age groups
like those in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond
it’s less about strict age divisions
and more about broader lifestyle categories
such as college students
working professionals, or other interests
If your work requires pitching to a specific audience
it’s also worth considering the gender of your target readers
We’ve touched on this point before
Character introduction, this is a must
Here's a tip
Focus on major characters
It’s fine to provide more details for the most important characters
But avoid going overboard with minor characters
For example, even their blood type, zodiac sign, or MBTI
That's too much details
This might give the impression
that the writer is unprofessional
just overly attached to their characters
To keep the proposal clean and concise
avoid including excessive details
for supporting characters
Some include character images in your proposal
If you can draw them yourself, that’s ideal
But if you just write the story
and you’re not planning to illustrate it yourself
it’s fine to seek help from someone else
Of course you have to be transparent
about where it's going to be used
So you can ask someone to draw it for you
Or you can also use a reference image instead
But using a reference image is tricky
because it can entail legal issues
So always cite your sources
and clarify the uses
that it's not for anything else
I'm sure you can manage up to this much
It's also a fun task
Up until this part, it doesn't need too much thinking
You can proceed quickly
Now, let’s get to the truly important parts
The logline and the synopsis
They sound intimidating
These two elements often require a lot of thought from the writer
Logline and Synopsis
Let’s start with the logline
You’ve probably heard of it before
but despite being a foreign term
it’s not that complicated
It compresses the entire story into one or two sentences
The key here is the phrase, the entire story
When asked to write a logline, some people do this
So-and-so Jane Doe is nervously so-and-so
Wow, but that was so-and-so!
What will happen to Jane Doe?
That’s the kind of logline you often see
on Webtoon platforms, where the summaries
are typically written in this format
Ordinary high schooler Jane Doe
nervously transfers schools
only to find out it’s a high school for otherworldly beings!
How will Jane Doe's fate unfold among them?
That’s essentially Act 1
The protagonist transfers to a special high school
a very special high school
feels conflicted, and Act 1 ends
This type of logline is called
a marketing logline
It’s designed as an advertisement
Its goal is to pique curiosity
so it deliberately withholds the later parts of the story
The logline for your proposal
should not follow this format
Why? Because this isn’t an advertisement
Yes, a proposal is a sales document
but the key difference is that
the people reading it
are your collaborators
people who will work with you to create your project
If you don't tell them how it ends
they can’t make an informed decision
They don’t know the entire story, of course they can't
That’s why a logline requires you
to compress the entire story into one or two sentences
The entire story in your logline, that's important
Your logline must encapsulate all three acts of the story
If this still feels vague, let’s go into more detail
For Act 1
Remember what subjects and predicates are?
Write Act 1 as the subject, and Act 3 as the predicate
to form a single sentence
Maybe you remember this example
A person who has never been in a relationship explores every kind of romance
only to realize that what they truly need isn’t romance
Do you remember?
That's a logline, with all three acts
Act 1, A person who has never been in a relationship
Act 2, Explores every kind of romance
Act 3, Realizes that romance isn’t what they need
The entire story is captured in that one sentence
Synopsis
This is often the most daunting part for writers
It's time to work on this
A synopsis is, simply put, a summary of the entire story
By the time someone finishes reading it
they should have a clear understanding of what your story is about
But same thing here
Jane Doe finally ventures into the enemy’s lair
What will become of their fate?
You can't close it here
This type of synopsis can confuse the reader
Surprisingly, many aspiring writers
write their synopses this way
That’s how movie flyers
that we see in theaters, they have many flyers there
This is how they present their synopses
And people assume that it's the way
to write a synopses
No, it's another form of advertisement
We’re creating a proposal
to get selected
so your synopsis needs to fully include all three acts
If your character ventures into the enemy’s lair
did they survive or not? Did they win or lose?
Isn't that a spoiler?
The reader of your synopsis isn’t an average reader
They’re the ones who may select you
Let's imagine a job interview
What are your aspirations for this company?
With that question, do you say
That’s a spoiler, hire me and I’ll tell you
This isn't going to work, it's the same thing
Even with this, I hear from so many students
that wiring a synopsis is so difficult
So I have something to help you
Mark Kneece, author of The Complete Guide to Writing Graphic Novels
offers a great method
He suggests starting with a logline
and breaking the story into three acts
Then, write one sentence for each act
That sounds familiar with the logline
That's what I told you then
A person who has never been in a relationship
explores every kind of romance
only to realize that what they truly need isn’t romance
This serves as a skeletal summary of the story
And after that, Kneece suggests
adding details such as subplots, actions, etc.
until the text fills one full page
That's interesting, isn't it?
I thought that was very interesting
Just add more until it fills a page
This may not sound too productive
but it ensures you cover all three acts
and emphasizes brevity
It's a very important exercise
Don't write a long synopsis
Why limit the synopses to one page?
This is what many books about writing emphasize
It's something all writers
should be able to do, while
so many aspiring writers don't follow this
The longer, the better?
That is not the case
Editors, platform managers, and contest judges
often have to read hundreds or even thousands of proposals
If you’re reading through stacks of one-page synopses
and suddenly find a 20-page one in the mix
do you think that
this person put in a lot of effort, and that you
should spend 20 times as much time reading it carefully?
There are still 987 submissions left to review
So that's not the case
his is why one page is the maximum
Anything longer creates a significant psychological barrier
Some people may say this
His Webtoon is 20 episodes long, but mine is 200 episodes
How can both of us summarize our stories in just one page
when the scales are different?
That's impossible, or even unfair
If he gets a page, for my 200 episodes
I should get ten pages
No, that's not the case
Even a 200-episode Webtoon needs only one page
How? By increasing the compression rate
A 200-episode story needs to compress the information
ten times as much
Mark Kneece advises, dd details until the page is full
It also means
that once the page is full, stop adding more
your main events alone fill the page
that's it, no more
Does that sound cold?
Then here's another tip for you
Consider this, for example
if your story isn't too long, you can do this
For example, the protagonist
visits Dongdaemun, then Seodaemun
then Gangnam Station, then Yeoksam Station
and what else?
So many stations
This station, that station, and more
Eventually they realize that subway stations
are all the same
and returns home disillusioned
Let's compress this
The protagonist explores various subway stations across Seoul
only to realize they’re all the same
That's one sentence
That's higher compression rate
Do not list all the events
but describe the meaning of the events
That way, you can write as I said
Having explored various subway stations across Seoul
they realized they’re all the same
You can increase your compression rate
with this kind of description
I'm sure you're still wondering
if this is all to synopsis
if there isn't anything more to it
I'm sure
that you are surprised that this is it for synopsis
thinking that you need something more about it
Stop if it 's full?
That's not something a professor on storytelling would say
Some of you may be thinking that
I've had some students come up to me
and say this with a serious face
I followed your instructions, and my synopsis is boring
You may imagine
that this would really surprise and hurt
the instructor for storytelling
But no, I am not hurt at all
Because I already know
that all synopses are like that
They're meant to be boring
Don't be too surprised
Regarding proposals, particularly synopses
we still have much to discuss
In our final session next time
we will learn how to critique and revise
Only after going through that stage
will your proposals and synopses truly shine
Please look forward to it, and I’ll see you again next time
Proposal Planning
Types of Proposals Writers’ internal working drafts vs submissions for external review
Working proposals are for the writer’s eyes only, so they don’t need to follow strict formats
A record kept by the author for their reference, where inconsistencies between events or daily changes in character settings are acceptable
It can include doodles or monologues about the characters
Submission Proposal A sales document designed to secure approval should effectively convey information about the work the author wishes to create
They must demonstrate why the work should be chosen They should follow the format if any is given
They should avoid statements like undecided or subject to change
Proposal Components
Name If reluctant to reveal your real name, write it in the proposal but negotiate pseudonym use in the contract
Title Titles like 'Untitled', 'Not yet decided', or 'In progress' shouldn't be used and a proper title must be provided when submitting
Genre Use terms recognizable to reviewers and relevant in today’s market
Estimated Length A rough estimate, such as tens of episodes, is sufficient
New writers should propose realistic episode lengths
Target Audience The target age group should be detailed, with other groups categorized based on factors like college students, working professionals, and personal preferences
Character Descriptions: Focus on key characters and avoid excessive detail about minor ones.
Logline and Synopsis
Logline A compressed summary of the entire story in 1-2 sentences
It must include all three acts
Synopsis A summary of the entire story
After reading it, the reviewer should fully understand the narrative
It must include all three acts, ensuring clarity of each