Ambitious Stories

[okellymx]

I had an outline for a comic that I only wanted to be a stand alone graphic novel. The problem is when I started writing the script I started adding things to the story making it much longer than anticipated, aka a series. I started adding characters that weren't even planned. I was wondering, how many of you go way beyond your outline to add things to your story but still making sense?

[zetina]

oh my god
this always happens to me. i'm incapable of making short stories lmao
i have to force myself to make them short.

i've never gotten far enough with planning a story to have anything to say on this tbh but i tend to get carried away. i like EPICs, ya know

[AnnaLandin]

Grassblades has a "finished" outline. I'm putting "finished" in quotes, because what that means is that I've got a beginning, a middle and an end, and I've got the most important characters and when they're supposed to enter and exit the story - but that's it. I've got a LOT of air and vagueness in my outline, because if I had everything set in stone right now, I know my brain would get bored and wander off and do something else. And then I'd never finish anything.

So. I know the main arc of the story, I know what goes in the middle, and I know where everybody is headed. Beyond that, I've got a LOT of leeway in adding and subtracting things.

For example, when I wrote my outline, the trio of people following Masahiro didn't have NEARLY as much screentime as they are scheduled for now. I got to the end of storyboarding part 2 and realised that if I only gave them as much to do as my current outline said, people would forget all about them before they had time to enter the story again, and their actions wouldn't have nearly as much impact. So I added scenes with them in the current (and later) chapters. Same goes for the old lady Watanabe who turned up in part 2 - he was going to be a one-time thing, but people liked her so much that it made me go over my outline again - and I realised that I could bring her back in certain chapters later on.

Most of my edits have been to add stuff - more scenes with existing characters, mainly, to make the story flow better - but I have also axed a few things. Lady Watanabe used to have a husband, for example, and he used to be the one in charge of the palace (my online has "Lord/Lady Watanabe" pencilled in), but I think she works better on her own. There's a scene that would have been in part 5 that got axed in favour of moving another scene forward and to avoid similarities with part 1, etc. There's yet another scene in what would have been part 7 that I've removed because it isn't really necessary, etc.

TL;DR - yes.

I try to make sure I know my ending before I start adding too much stuff to my outline. That way, I know where the story is supposed to be heading, so it's easier to avoid adding subplots that go nowhere, or characters who don't add anything to the story. It's also easier to foreshadow later events, and work on building character arcs.

[mariusthered]

just go with the flow. i truly believe that when you are writing the work will become what it is destined to be you just happen to be the vessel to get it from the universe to the page.

[Zpreader]

My Inktober project in 2015 was started as a short comic that could be finished within 30 days (~ one page per day) and about 5 days in I had thought of a way to expand it into a full project. I eventually decided to put it on hold as it was just too big, but yeah, that kinda thing happens to me constantly. I've started trying to work on short stories, but I think for some of us it's just hard to think of stories that way.

[UndefinableCreature]

Idk, Personally, I plan it all out. I know exactly what I want to convey with each comic I make.
I leave the details out for last. I find the story to be more important than the world, in some cases.

@okellymx
Didn't want to spam.
What I meant was that I personally, write out the dialogues, the systems, the rough outline. Everything else goes on in my head and I slowly think it through in detail before starting it. Just so I have a clear idea of what it is I'm doing.
I find that personally, the world doesn't need much emphasis. Cause that would take some time, coming up with a history etc, Im not fond of that. I create it as it is, explain through dialogue and move on ahead.

[okellymx]

@UndefinableCreature
Not sure I understand what you mean, you say you plan it all out but leave the details out for last? Does that mean you just add dialogue later or what?
When I write the only parts of the world that are important are those that have to do with the story and help move the plot.

[mg78]

imho it s quite natural to "expand" the world created, its happen because fantasies work...

as everyone it happen to me too.
imho the skill here its to set what its really needed from "other things" sometime quite useless...

[ashriott]

Gosh, this happened to the comic I'm currently working on. I wanted it to be long, but not as long as I've written it now. I've already planned the whole story in detail, but I've no intention of shortening it. I may trim off part I need as I draw it however.

That being said, I do think the comic I'm working on now is a very ambitious project @_@ I've added characters, plotlines and many other aspects, but as a result, added more scenes to explain stuff and provide more exposition. Trying to make sense of things is definitely a challenge, and it's still something I'm trying to improve on. The problem is everything will make sense to the writer since we know what the heck is going on most of the time. Times like these it's great if you have a friend/editor/proof reader to help pick out things that are confusing.

[okellymx]

Having some to proof read would be great, its just finding someone who I can trust to read it.

[whirlwyndstorm]

My cousin always sees a new story of mine and immediately asks, "This is becoming a series, isn't it?"

I've actually had to do the opposite of expanding with most of my works because of the format I want to put them in. With 20 Galaxies I've let it grow naturally because it's inspired by long-form fantasy series spreading across multiple books. I have the major plot points down and some of the more specific actions for that, but most of the script hasn't been written yet.

Lady Unlucky, however, kept expanding and expanding until a good friend of mine expressed interest in putting the story on stage. Then I had to try to trim it down to the bare bones.

[R.n.P]

I do it everytime i dunno why but i kinda like it since it makes me more eager to draw them

[shazzbaa]

This happens to me most of all with villains/antagonists. I seem to be incapable of making a story that doesn't have three different antagonists playing off of each other in some way? Or having the small time antagonist that seems to be the villain eventually lead into another, more serious antagonist? I don't know why this always happens, but this always happens. xD

[joannekwan]

I definitely do this, mostly because I want to explore the characters and share a bit more about them.
It's like I'm basically writing fanfics for myself and making them canon. ._.

[iddqd]

Guilty as charged. I've recently been trying to cut anything and everything that is not essential to the story, which means that some of my beloved characters showing up later in the story have to be cut to make space for a character that already serves the same function in the plot anyway. I think it makes for a leaner, more focused narrative. Kill your darlings, and all that.

[AffectedMind]

Been there xD
I was like "let's make something short!" when I did my friend was like "hey, you could develop that idea" and I started to add new plot points and characters and at the end I just had to re-do my story x_x

[Aetherwing]

I have this problem with nearly everything I make. I try to make something small with only a few characters and next thing I know I'm coming up with backstories and family and antagonists and that leads to more characters and more stories and more development until it winds up becoming much much larger than originally intended.

For example, the main character of my comic started out as just an idea for a DnD character. Then an idea for an entire epic fantasy story happened.

[Starfestival]

I don't even do outlines. I do it the Miyazaki way.

[efdvorsky]

I have comic thumbnails loads of chapters ahead of Cosmic Fish for this reason. Arcs ahead even, but always open for changing which is why I sketch them out first to see if I like it so far and if something better comes along the way, I just re-do the whole scene all over again. It gives me choices.

Not only that I also did non-plot related but still one-shot world building and expanding extra comics for this called Gone Fishing and even MORE so with gag or even short plot-relevant strips for Cosmic Fish Extras. I can make short comics, but really Cosmic Fish is such a clustermuck of plot and characters that it's really the most effective way to make sure there aren't any plot holes or that the world feels real and believable.

I can handle both long and short stories, but my absolute favorite is being ambitious and huge on occasion...and this just so happens to be it and I love every second of it.

[PurpleGround]

I could say the same. My current story actually started out to be VERY short. and I've even announced it publicly, "its a very short short". Planned to be 10 pages and now it's running at 20 pages (haven't upload till there). Let's just say, if you really love your world, you would go beyond what was set. Because you are drawn in it! DRAWN in that sweet liberating ice-cream which we called imagination!