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thetrivyadeabhb2
Jul '24

I’m new to making comics, and I have a bunch of ideas for my webcomics/manga.
The problem here is that I’m not good at keeping my stories on track to the plot, and the core of the story. and when I get upset/vent I don’t write, because I have something upset to deal with, and it’s too much for me. I role-play my characters inside my head and making it hard to write (and pin!) my ideas and stories down to a tangible amount of writing, so don’t know how to make writing my story fun and enjoyable. I also have a problem where I don’t know how to write a simple script (screenwriting) from draft to finalized version. How can I resolve most of these situations?
I enjoy reading comics, manga, webcomics, and chapter books, and consuming certain amounts of TV, movies, and FM radio station music.
So how do you make writing in a journal diary fun, despite having too many notebooks in your house?

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    Jul '24

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    Jul '24
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JoshRaed
Jul '24

I would say think of a weird little concept that interests you and fill it out in a short story.

IndigoShirtProd
Jul '24

Since toy have so many ideas and a lot of passion behind, consider writing them all down, but on separate documents so they don't conflict with one another. Sometimes I'll gey a bunch of different ideas in my head too, and just getting them out on paper or typing them out kinda of gets it out of my head. After writing a fair amount of my ideas down I would try to take a step away and then return to all of them before deciding which one I have the most excitement for. It'll give you the chance to figure which idea has them most staying power in your mind.

Best way to make writing fun is to not take it too seriously. This isn't life and death and you're not trying on your writing for a paycheck, so trying out several ideas and playing into self indulgence is perfectly fine.

This is a bit more personal since everyone scripts differently. What I did when I first started was research through YouTube tutorials about comic making and looking up references.

Fill those notebooks! Grab one, doesn't matter which, and keep all those different ideas in one place. Or grab a couple and put the different ideas in different books. As for making it fun, you couple try out prompt lists and write things related to prompts for each of your writings.

LostKelpRegular
Jul '24

One way that I've found really pushes me to make brief, impactful stories is by going to a writing club where you're given a prompt and about 15-20mins to finish the story. Putting a time constaint on your initial script is a great way to push yourself to write quickly, and as a bonus, if you fail that's only 15 mins wasted.

So pull up a random prompt, write a story with that prompt if it sucks, then dump it and move on. If it doesn't you can re-tool it to work better. (what that economy quote? fail faster) sometimes finding the right story to show is about throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Lensing
Jul '24

I break down everything and work from big to small and that´s something that motivates me.

I could write a book about the process but here is a short version how I do it.
I break down every story to 12 panels. I do that with single situations, dialogue, complete
stories. It´s very satisfying to do it like that because you have a structured story in the end.
It works for every story when you have in mind that you can add stuff later

2DLenzy
Jul '24

My blanket solution to all your issues would be: Use bullet points!

Many Ideas! (got this problem too)

Idea #1:

  • Characters, names, general descrip of world/setting, nothing too detailed needed yet
  • synopsis on what generally happens, beginning and ending, if known
  • A: something happens
  • B: something happens
  • filler or transitional event, or nothing (yes, I have blank bullets in my plots all the time, gives me room to play with ideas or just make it up)
  • C: something happens
  • Honest, the middle stuff is usually made up as you go along, but the beginning and ending are the most important in a first draft usually

Idea #2:

  • Etcetera
  • When you've got all your ideas down, even if one is just one bullet/sentence, it'll be out of your head
  • Then pick an idea that seems the most complete but doesn't feel too bloated with points so it can be short and sweet.

Scripting

I'm not an expert scriptwriter, but there is software that uses a format to help you write a script depending on what you want. I used Celtx (an old version, tbh), but it allows text formatting. There are others online to try.
But here is a very general idea of what the elements are:

Page 1
(Set up scene with description.)
Panel 1
Action
CHARACTER:(centered on page)
Dialogue(right below character)
Panel 2
Yep, more Action!

  • Again, you can use simple bullet points if you don't want to stick to the format or if the story/comic is just for you. A script would be more useful if you were collab with someone, but that's my assumption, I've haven't collabed with anyone yet.

As for journaling? Bullet journal!

  • Write down the most pressing thought in the moment
  • Write the emotion and maybe a "why" you feel this way. You don't have to write an emotionally charged paragraph if you don't feel like it.
  • Write down a challenge to the above distressing thought/event or something positive and move forward as best you can
  • IDK maybe doodle something for distraction or illustrate emotions, then throw it away once its out of your system?

Final point: You can't force yourself to enjoy storytelling all the time, there are always gonna be points where the story hits a doldrums, so to speak, but if you build up the habit of writing (from bullets to sentences to paragraphs), then you'll be able to navigate those boring moments with a little more ease. There's always rewriting too, but only as a last resort.

Disclaimer: Not an expert in anything per se, just a very lazy artist/writer, hoping this will at least get you started on at least one thing. Take it all with a grain of salt, and do what feels better for you. Good luck!