WEBTOON Advanced Peer Review and Revision
Hello, I'm Hyerim Yang, a storytelling instructor
I teach at the School of Manhwa Contents, Chungkang University
I am also a Webtoon story writer myself
We are currently discussing story planning
Last time, we learned about writing project proposals
which include two types
A personal proposal
for controlling one’s own work
And a sales-oriented proposal
aimed at being selected
by platforms to reach readers
These were the two
The latter often requires more attention
as it determines whether your work gets
officially presented to an audience or not
Key components of submission proposals
include the logline and synopsis
Among these, writing a synopsis tends to challenge creators the most
Last time, I said something
shocking about synopsis
That it's supposed to be boring
What does that mean?
Purpose of a Synopsis
Why is synopsis boring?
This is what challenges many aspiring writers
Which is
they did as they were told
or at least what they knew
All three acts are there
and it's one-page long
But it's still boring
Oh no, maybe I did something wrong
And they start adding things
Their favorite line, or their favorite scene
Their favorite relationship, something they like
And adding all these
prevent the synopsis from being even
Some parts are not explained
while some parts even have their lines
and conversations
and even more detailed plans
He squeezed his hand against the wall
There are details like this
But other part says, he wins
This is different
That's why it gets longer
To make it fun, you need descriptions
and witty expressions
Later, you will realize you're writing
like a novel
It's okay, if it's more interesting that way
But then, once you try reading it
you realize, despite your effort
that it's not interesting
I like this
That's my favorite line
But the readers will say this
I'm sorry, but I don't understand this
Why is this happening?
It's because of one reason
A writer has a blueprint of their own work in their head
So even with a rough sketch of that part
they can laugh with its context
and they can be touched
For someone without any information about that work
all they know is what the synopsis says
So any witty or touching expression said by the character
however touching it may be
may approach them without context
This prevents laughing or being touched
I introduced to you Mark Kneece
He is a comic story writer
and also a teacher nurturing younger talents
He made the following statement in his book
The Complete Guide to Creating Comics
A synopsis always goes against the nature of the writer
You may have felt that this is roughly the same
as my comment that a synopsis is always boring
The writer’s nature is to embellish
make things look cool, and make things interesting
However, the synopsis is simple, unembellished
and has a plain feel
None of the cool dialogue or excellent scene descriptions
in your script can be included in the synopsis
That’s exactly it
This is why we feel synopses are boring
There’s no dialogue, so there’s no character personality
Without character personality, there’s no relationship dynamic
No descriptions, and without descriptions, no spectacular portrayal of scenes
Everything we look forward to in a comic is absent in a synopsis
But if you try to include all those things
the synopsis will fail to fulfill its role
A massive earthquake occurs, and the city collapses
Even if you find this too boring and add this
This section will include a spectacular depiction
of cracked ground and collapsing buildings over two open pages
Still not interesting
That is something only the work itself can effectively show
So, why do we need to write a synopsis?
For what purpose?
If we can’t pursue entertainment value in it
if it’s not supposed to be fun
then what should we aim for when writing a synopsis?
Mark Kneece, after declaring
that no great dialogue
or superb scenes should be included in a synopsis
goes on in his book to say the following
The essence of the story
those cool dialogues
and scenes you want to show
will be revealed through the script and the artwork
For now, you need to show the structure of the story
If there are any structural flaws in the story
they will reveal themselves at this stage
The synopsis exists to show the structure
I think of it as something like an X-ray photograph
If you’re from a similar generation as me
you might remember this joke
It's a very old joke
Someone
went in to get an X-ray and asked this
Please make it look pretty
It was a popular joke in my time
Very popular at the time
But not that funny now
If you’re trying to
make your synopsis entertaining
you’re making a mistake very similar to this
Why do we take X-rays?
To check bone health, identify any abnormalities
in organs, and so on
A synopsis works in exactly the same way
For the story's structure and stability
Whether Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3 are well-arranged
and whether Act 2 maintains logical consistency
while expanding the conflict
that the story can reach its conclusion
That's the purpose of it
Please make the X-ray look pretty, that's similar to this
Please make your synopsis fun
Both are incredibly difficult to achieve
Feedback through Peer Review
Now, I believe you’ve somewhat
understood the purpose of a synopsis
Then, like reading an X-ray
it’s time to examine and revise the synopsis
When you read an X-ray, what do you do?
If any abnormalities are found
you seek treatment or undergo procedures to fix them
A synopsis, too, shouldn’t be left as is
It needs to be reviewed and revised
to implement a better structure
Did you see the title of today’s session?
If so, you might have already guessed
but what I’d like to suggest in this process is peer review
Peer review refers to evaluating a work collectively
Why is this important?
Because there are tasks that writers cannot do on their own
A writer is someone who designed the work themselves
so there are things they don’t notice
Especially after putting
significant effort into revising their proposal or synopsis
there are genuinely things the writer cannot see
It’s like having a smudge on your nose
Others see it clearly
but you have no idea for some things
A writer is someone who has built the world
designed the characters
and generally knows all the events
that will occur in the story
They're not omniscient though, as in
there might still be possibilities the writer hasn’t considered
Still, since it’s a world the writer created
there are things they can’t catch
because they feel too natural or obvious
For example, let’s say
there’s a house where the bathroom light is broken
Someone has adapted and lived in that house for years
The person living there
considers that very normal at this point
But if a friend visits and steps into the bathroom
they might exclaim, why doesn’t the light turn on?
It’s only at that moment that the homeowner realizes
When did they realize it? When the friend pointed it out
because for them, it was such an obvious fact
that they didn’t even think about it
that the bathroom can be bright
Similarly, reviewing a proposal requires an outsider
Why? Because the intended readers of this proposal
weren’t general readers, right?
No, they were outsiders
such as webtoon PDs
or contest judges
Moreover, these people don’t know who you are
The minimum requirement for a synopsis or proposal is this
Who is the writer?
Who are they, what are their preferences
and what are they good at?
Even without knowing any of that or of the story
The readers should still fully understand the story after reading it
This is the bare minimum standard
While the synopsis doesn’t need to be fun
but even if they don’t know this writer or this story
they should be able to understand what it’s about
after reading this
To achieve this, it’s essential to ask for feedback
from someone who has no prior information
at all about the work
Who should you ask for feedback?
This is an area where many mistakes occur
First, not those who know your work as well as you do
For instance, your collaborating illustrator
or a friend who helped develop the idea with you
These people are already
too familiar with your story world
Like someone who’s used to the broken bathroom light
they’re likely to overlook things, thinking
that the light doesn't work and that's normal
If you rely on them, you’ll never fix the bathroom light
A more common scenario is this
Asking for feedback from someone
who knows absolutely nothing about Webtoon
I ask, why did you do this?
They say, a good story should
be good regardless of genre
That's partially true, but
Webtoons have a strong genre-specific nature
so some understanding of it and the medium is essential
Sometimes I hear things like this
I showed this synopsis to
a famous movie director I know
and they criticized it, that it was nonsensical, childish
and lacked narrative coherence
When I ask, really? Why?
and listen carefully to their story
I often find out that
this famous director, in fact
doesn't even read Webtoons
It's not they are wrong
or that directors should read Webtoons
I mean, as someone in the industry, it'd be nice
But it's okay if they don't
I am not trying to comment on
their profession as a movie director
This is similar to a situation
where there’s a French chef
who has never tasted kimchi
This can happen, though it'd be nice to try one
There will be many French chefs without experience to kimchi
But would it make sense to go to that chef and ask
Do you think this chili powder is good for making kimchi?
Is this glutinous rice paste at the right consistency for making kimchi?
Do they mean anything?
They’ve never experienced kimchi
This is the same thing
The fields are different, so I recommend
showing your proposal to someone
who has some understanding of the current Webtoon market
There are genres that are strong in their specific characteristics
These aren’t universal genres that have existed across all times
but rather those that became popular after the 2010s
featuring their own specific rules and tropes
If your work falls into
one of these genres, you’ll need to seek feedback from someone
with some knowledge of that genre
I have a friend who was a big fan
of comics and Webtoons in the 1990s and 2000s
but has hardly read any Webtoons since 2010
If I were to show them a Ro-fan, or romance fantasy proposal
they will say this
They got hit by a truck, and suddenly wakes up in another world?
Why does the protagonist adapt so quickly?
By the second episode, the protagonist is already saying
Yes, I am the Duchess?
Why does she adapt so fast?
According to the proposal
the protagonist never returns to her original world by the end
but why doesn’t she feel sad and instead lives happily ever?
I can't relate to this
All of these are valid points
But if you take this feedback literally
and start rewriting the story
a lot of the charm of the Ro-fan genre could be lost
For instance, in Ro-fan, waking in another world
after a car accident is a very common trope
When asked why
we just say, because it's Ro-fan
Whether this is right or wrong is
a separate discussion for another time
However, readers of Ro-fan
don’t want the writer to spend three episodes explaining
the narrative logic behind
getting hit by a truck and waking up in another world
What they want is a story progression typical of Ro-fan
Thus, feedback from someone unfamiliar
with the genre might not be accurate
When you write a proposal, the people who will read it
like, for example
platform representatives or contest judge
You don't need to worry about them too much
They work in the Webtoon industry and are professionals
These people are not going to ask
about this logic of Ro-fan
You're writing your proposal assuming that your reader
knows the current trends of the Webtoon market
So you need to choose people for feedback considering this
It might not be easy to get feedback from someone
who’s on the level of a contest judge
But you can surely find someone with knowledge
and insight comparable to that
I don’t have anyone like that? You do
What I personally recommend the most is
peer review among aspiring Webtoon writers
Peer reviews with colleagues or others studding storytelling
When you do this
you won’t feel burdened by the one-sided act
of asking someone to review your work
You can exchange feedback on each other’s proposals instead
And since these people are
also aiming to enter the current Webtoon market
they’re likely to have a good understanding
of today’s market situation and genres
If you want to receive feedback from a renowned author
or someone who knows the genre well
even if you write a polite email
you might be lucky to get a reply
There are many authors who may not respond so kindly
It's also a pressure on them
Is it okay to ask such a busy person for help? Like this
But for a peer review
I’ll give feedback on your work
if you give feedback on mine
You can review each other’s work without feeling as much pressure
It’s also beneficial to have the group members discuss
and establish some rules for the peer review process beforehand
That said, I know that not many of you have experience
conducting peer reviews
So, I’d like to introduce some rules
that I’ve personally used for peer reviews
First is initial review or initial evaluation
This is the assessment you do at the very start
You quickly read through the proposal
without pausing for questions, hesitation
or searching for things
After skimming through it, you share your first impressions
Don’t focus on pointing out specific issues
or identifying problems
Instead, just read lightly and then
share what immediately comes to mind
It might not be that productive
It was fun! It was difficult
I don't know what it is about yet
These simple impressions are enough
They can help determine how readable the proposal is
After that, the group can go through the proposal again
after having completed that initial evaluation
At this point, it’s helpful to refer to the pre-determined rules
or criteria set by the peer review group
I’ve prepared some example questions
that can be used, such as these
Questions about the genre
Does the genre identified by the author in the proposal
align with what’s depicted in the synopsis?
The author labeled it as action
but the synopsis feels more like a romance
Romance isn’t a commercially weak genre either
Wouldn’t it be better to define this as romance
to take the advantage?
Friends or colleagues of the author can suggest this
because the author might already be firmly convinced
that it's an action piece
and may not think about romance too much
A third party can come up with such ideas quite easily
Does the protagonist show noticeable change in the story?
This is something we emphasized
as most important when preparing our story
so we need to check if this is
well-reflected in the synopsis
Do you remember what role Act 1
should fulfill, according to Syd Field?
It's setup
Provide feedback on whether the character of the protagonist is clear
by the time you finish reading Act 1
This part is particularly difficult for writers
because, for the writer, the protagonist’s character
is such an obvious presence
It becomes tricky to figure out
how much explanation is necessary
whether the explanation is too much or too little
and finding that middle ground is
However, surprisingly, third-party readers can understand this easily
and quickly come up with feedback, such as this
Isn’t there a lack of explanation about the protagonist?
You didn’t explain the protagonist’s abilities
Why is the protagonist so obsessed with this thing?
When the writer hears this feedback, their immediate thought goes
Did I not mention that?
That’s exactly why we conduct peer reviews
When you receive this type of feedback
you should feel grateful and pleased
rather than thinking, you should have figured that out yourself
This mindset does not deserve a peer review
Another thing to check in Act 1 is
whether an important event occurs
This is because such an event
will create the bridge leading to Act 2
In Act 2, not every minor event
will be included in detail
Because we have limits in our length
But the key events should still be arranged
Check for whether these events are arranged coherently
or if something feels off
like a necessary part
seems to be missing
A third-party reader can easily catch such issues
When writers receive this feedback
they will then realize
I left that part out and forgot about it
For example, let’s say the protagonist
gains a new ability at a certain point
but the writer forgets to include that part in the synopsis
It mentions the protagonist using the new ability in the next section
When did the protagonist acquire this ability?
That could be the feedback for it
In Act 3, was the conflict built up in Act 2 ultimately resolved?
Does the protagonist’s decision make sense?
If it doesn’t seem convincing
there may have been an issue in Act 2
The lack of coherence in the events
may have caused readers to react
Why did the protagonist suddenly make that decision?
We had this example
This protagonist spent Act 2 fighting to determine the strongest
but in Act 3
he says, I’ve never enjoyed fighting
Life is meaningless
That would not make sense
It's the coherence of events in Act 2 had problems
Here’s an additional question I like to ask
As a reader, do you think it feels rewarding
to have followed along up to this point?
But that last question, honestly
isn’t necessarily something the writer must always consider
For example, in Act 3, the protagonist
meets an honorable and tragic death
As in the earlier example
hey sacrifice their life to save their enemy
Some peer reviews may say
The protagonist dying feels so pointless
It doesn’t mean you should immediately respond
Okay, I’ll keep them alive
This is because this is merely about the structure
and depending on how the writer develops the manuscript
that sense of futility could evolve into something moving
There are limitations to how this can be described
The protagonist meets their death, and everyone remembers them
What? They died? That would be the reaction for this synopsis
But in a manuscript, they may understand
I’ll make it neither futile nor just sad
but instead, a deeply impact ending that stays
in the reader’s memory for a long time
Let's recap my comment
Does it feel rewarding to have followed the story to this point?
I asked that for a reason
Here's an example
after an epic adventure
the ending is, oh, it was all just a dream
Don't write stories like this
We often joke about these dream endings
in a very sarcastic sense
Even without going as far as saying
it was all a dream or an illusion
there are cases where writers
intentionally create endings that disappoint readers
If it’s a deliberate choice
there’s no reason for third parties to stop them
But for long Webtoons
I would personally ask the writer to consider
how much time readers have invested in the story
If it has 100 episodes
readers would have spent over two years on it
If, after all that, the ending is that it was a dream
followed by the protagonist saying, time to go to school
it will make the readers very sad
And why would you want to do that?
If the writer doesn’t have a clear answer
then I’d suggest that you consider
being a bit more considerate of your readers
But this is ultimately up to the writer
and I don’t believe it’s my place to dictate
Still, I think it’s good for writers
to be aware of these reactions, that they may feel sad
that they might dislike some endings
If you still want it, then go for it
If not, it might be worth
reconsidering and making adjustments
Revising the Manuscript
After receiving a pile of feedback from your peers
you might feel a bit down
or you might be pleasantly surprised to realize what you forgot about
Either way, it’s now time to finalize
and revise your plan based on that feedback
If the peer review went well
your plan is likely already somewhat polished
but referring to a checklist while doing the final revision
could still be helpful
Here are the final questions I’d like you to consider
Does the synopsis maintain an objective perspective overall?
For example, sometimes the writer’s voice
suddenly pops up in the synopsis
What I mean is
for something that is clearly a fantasy story
thing are happening, this and that
and then it features contradictions that are ruining our society today
or comments on politics of the leaders of where
Wait, why is the writer suddenly intruding here?
Or, it narrates, just like
the climate change that plagues us all...
It’s evident that objectivity is not being maintained
Please consider whether
such commentary is truly necessary
Writers often lose objectivity about their characters
which is understandable
because they have affection for their characters
However, things like suddenly criticizing
defending, or explaining the character
in the synopsis are entirely unnecessary
Jane Doe wasn’t actually a bad person
but they made the wrong choice in this situation
However, they will deeply regret this choice later
With this, readers will
not say that oh, they’re not a bad person
but rather, okay, so what?
What readers feel in the story is everything for them
When the writer tells them otherwise
that this character isn't bad
it creates resistance
So, if it were me, I’d omit such descriptions
If your beloved character Jane Doe
seems too much like a bad person
I think it’s better to simply revise the description or narration itself
This is a mistake often made by writers
confident in their story’s events
It’s worth considering whether you’re unnecessarily
listing overly detailed events
For example, it's a mystery story
with an amazing mystery trick
The idea behind the locked-room setup is brilliant
and you’re so eager to showcase it
You'd love to talk about it
In a one-page synopsis, you might write
The second murder used such-and-such trick
It appears to be a locked-room murder, but actually
this happened instead of that, and so and so
Turning the bookshelf here
will reveal that it's actually fake, so on
You might go into exhaustive detail
Unfortunately, from the reader’s perspective
it still feels like, so what?
Such details are unlikely to contribute
to the overall flow leading to the conclusion
Those are merely details
The important thing is whether
the detective cleverly uncovered the truth of the trick
or if they were defeated by the intricacy of the trick
That's the big gist of the storyline
Details disconnected from that should
unfortunately, be considered for removal
However, if the intricacy of the trick is
a major marketing point for the work
I’d recommend creating a separate section in the project proposal
Call it Example of the Trick, or Sample Episode
If you’re confident in the tricks
and if your work features a lot of good tricks
you need to add a section dedicated for that
If you force these into the synopsis
it's like seeing a patch of stickers
or colored highlights on an X-ray image
which feels bizarre and uncomfortable
Another point to be cautious of here is descriptions
Check whether your descriptions are overly verbose
For instance
some writers want to describe characters in great visual detail
thinking it’s very important
For example, reading this in a synopsis
may throw the reader off
A woman with golden blonde hair cascading like a waterfall
and ivory-like skin so translucent it seems almost transparent
approaches with a sound like silk brushing against ice
This feels more like a novel than a synopsis
When the writer's asked about this
they can say that the character is really beautiful
so they couldn’t leave out the description
I hear this sometimes
I completely understand this
I’d recommend moving this description
to a separate section, as we talked about before
Let's use our Character Description section of the proposal
Descriptions like golden blonde hair
and translucent skin like ice, they can go there
and keep the synopsis itself clean and concise
The final step is spelling and grammar
Some people say that they can simply use a spell checker
But don’t let your guard down
Spell checkers don’t know the unique terms of your fantasy world
So they may say strange things
For example, if your world includes
a group called the Alashica Tribe
And the spell checker change it all to Alaska
You’ll need to review
these cases manually
Another issue might be awkward sentences
Fixing these on your own can be challenging
For this part, even if the person isn’t familiar with comics
you can ask someone skilled in writing
to check if there are awkward sentences
But why does getting hit by a truck lead to reincarnation in another world?
That’s how these stories work, and move on
After addressing spelling and grammar issues
and completed revisions, you’ll likely have
a polished project proposal in your hands
Of course, this isn’t the kind of work
you can type out in an hour
I know that this isn't that kind of work
Now that the lecture is over
many of you will begin putting this into practice
One of the best parts of video lectures
is that you can revisit them anytime you need
Take advantage of this flexibility
in a way that suits your needs
As we truly wrap up the lecture
there’s one last thing I absolutely want to say
Earlier, I mentioned that
you now likely have a polished project proposal in hand
You might think, okay, time to submit this!
But one proposal alone is not enough
Sometimes, we come across debut works that are so outstanding
for a debut work
However, in most cases, such authors have
a wealth of practice works under their belt
It’s incredibly rare
for one polished project proposal
to turn directly into a masterpiece and hit success
Behind it, there’s often a long history
of failures and trial-and-error
I'm saying this because
some people say this
I won’t settle for creating a mediocre piece
I’ll only make truly great works
You may not believe me there are people like this
I hear this very often
I only want to work on my debut work
I’m in a hurry
If it’s not good enough to debut, it’s a waste of time
Such people might start a piece
drop it, start another, and abandon it again
after writing just the beginning
a bit on the proposal
but that's not debut-worthy either, so start over
They end up tinkering with fragments
and eventually stop creating altogether
This is not a method I recommend
People often leave ideas and projects unfinished
because nothing feels good enough
to meet their standards
This reminds me of someone who says
I’ll only swing for spectacular home runs
And ends up standing idle at the plate
not swinging at any pitch that doesn't feel like it
Or in a different example
I’ll save all my energy
for the upcoming Boston Marathon
but they can’t even run 30 minutes on a treadmill
This is closer to this case
Does this analogy seem absurd?
Will they ever make it to the Korean Series?
Not even make an amateur baseball league
They don't practice for it
Similarly, that runner wouldn’t make it 5 km
They're not running at all
It may seem like I’m stating the obvious
but writing a story is the same thing
I’m not doing anything now
but when a brilliant, debut-worthy idea strikes
I’ll give it my all!
Chances are that such an idea will never come to you
Why? Because finding and developing ideas
is a skill in itself, and if you don’t practice it, it won’t grow
It’s not about saying pouring everything into this one project
Instead, it’s like what figure skater Kim Yuna once said
What’s the point of thinking? You just do it
The same goes for our planning process
You won’t suddenly receive divine inspiration
while walking down the street
Instead, take small ideas, develop them
and practice creating proposals
Even if the story seems trivial, the more you work on it
the more you might feel disappointed
Despite that, see it through to the end
and think about your protagonist in the end
Do they remain a coward but gain a little courage?
Do they still have low self-esteem
but no longer have negative thoughts?
Are they still an outcast, but
now they can reach out to someone?
Think about where your protagonist ends up
and don’t stop there
Turn it into a polished project proposal
That's a very important practice
This builds up until you’re ready for the real thing
I’ll work when the real thing comes along?
Practice leads to the real thing
And for practice to be effective
especially before it becomes a habit
it needs to be easy and simple
Once it becomes second nature, it’s fine
It'll come reflexively
But before that, if it’s too overwhelming
it’s hard to practice effectively
If someone told me to do 100 sit-ups every day
I wouldn’t do it either
But until then, let’s start small, you can do that
like doing five sit-ups a day
So, this lecture was designed
to make Webtoon story planning
feel as approachable as possible
I'm not sure if you're feeling that right now
I sincerely hope this lecture has sparked
even a little motivation for those of you
aiming to plan webtoon stories
Thank you for your hard work, great job everyone
Purpose of a Synopsis To showcase the structure of the story
It ensures that Acts 1 to 3 are well-arranged, with Act 2 expanding conflicts while maintaining logical coherence
leading to a satisfying conclusion of the story
Peer Review Feedback
What is Peer Review? A collaborative process where everyone evaluates a work together Helps the author identify elements they may have missed
For highly genre-specific projects, feedback should come from individuals knowledgeable about the genre
Consider the perspectives of platform managers or judges who will read your proposal when selecting your feedback audience
Advantages of Peer Review
Less pressure compared to directly asking for individual feedback
Feedback is informed by current market trends and genre knowledge
Revising
Checklist for Final Revision Is the synopsis written from an objective perspective?
Are unnecessary, overly detailed events included? Is the description overly verbose?
Have spelling and grammar been checked? Have awkward sentences been revised?
Mindset for Creating an Outstanding Debut Work
Remember that exceptional debut works are often preceded by numerous failures and iterations
Develop the habit of working on small ideas, refining them into proposals
Practice leads to readiness for the real deal