Are you an outliner or a pantser?

[kalmia]

When it comes to writing, there’s two types of people: the outliner, and the pantser. For those who don’t know, an outliner is someone who creates some sort of general outline to follow when they begin writing their story. Maybe it’s all the major plot events, your ideas in chronological order, or basically every scene in your entire story from start to finish. They have some type of guide to follow or look at to help them through their plot and story.
A pantser, on the other hand, does not do this. They do basically the complete opposite. They go in head first and just make up the story as they write. Not to say a pantser writes with no idea as to what their story is about, but they more or less figure things out as they go along.

[Lensing]

I started as a 100% pantser and that means that I didn´t plan anything,
I just started drawing without any preparation and for me this is the definition
of a pantser

I slowly became a plantser and started preparing 3d models for rooms,
made sloppy character designs for the main character, had an idea for
a plot. I wrote my last comic page by page and sometimes panel by panel
and I also changed the plot I originally had in mind

My next step it to become a plotter with a finished script, all dialogue
written and things properly prepared for the comic

[LostKelp]

bitta column A bitta column B. I'll make a general outline and clarify it as I go. The broad strokes are all in place but the little details get re-arranged, [spoilers ig?] Is the main evil guy an immortal billionaire fuelled by the flesh of the innocent? a hologram? an AI? - well either way he did all the same stuff. Is the rebel group huge and intergalactic and corrupt? or is it small rag tag group of space pirates who want to do their part to make the world better? either way they overcome their shortcomings and manage to take down the tazdahir with the help of the crew.

It has it's problems, some of the stuff I set up in the first half isn't super relevant anymore. but I like the story I've come up with now more than the one I started with.

[moontokkym]

Hard outliner, which is good for comics because I don't have to do a ton of structural edits by the time I get to drawing the pages because I've already done 3-4 passes for editing.

Also helps to have all my ducks in a row because my comic's about a conspiracy so I need to keep it straight in my head.

[SereinChoo]

I usually outline something and then go panster as I dive in with the details. Because I need a general direction so that the story would fit a theme and wouldn't go too far away from the message/ending which I intended

[stiatent]

Outliner all the way! The only time there's some improv is for the in-comic promos for the fellow creators, the characters would usually interact with the promos.
Similar to what @moontokkym said, I also have to maintain order because there's a mystery being unveiled, the backgrounds and props also play a role. Also enjoy having hints of events happening parallel to the MCs pov so the times had to be outlined in order to work

[Aeneas1]

Pantser, really. I’m always coming up with ideas and I don’t much have time to plan them. I struggle with comic scripts, trying to find the kind of script that would work best for me. Nevertheless, I outlined the entire ending to Nixvir. It’s been years in the planning - six years in fact - but I will not spoil it. Nevertheless, it will change everything.

[ThunderChicken]

My first story is a true story, so an outline wasn't really required - it follows certain events in chronological order. The only decisions to be made were which events to include and which to omit (it takes place over almost 20 years so obviously they all couldn't be included).

For my second story I started out as a pantser but as it progressed and became more intricate I started outlining things first so that I could keep the plot going where I wanted it to. I've since become even more of an outliner as I've been working on the second volume for the second story.

[daeygurart]

Pansting has never worked out for me. In both writing and real life.

[allenT]

Outliners, but I only pantsering dialogues at the last minutes (most of the time ).

[thepenmonster]

Whatever is needed at the time

[NickRowler]

My first webcomic was a pantser, I do not recommend. Things just got harder to manage the further I got along. Going pantser for a 4 or 8 page comic might be doable, but 80 page, I would recommend to do some sort of outline. My guess is the same would apply to novel writing. It could work for a short story but might cause a headache for writing a longer series.

Usually with my comic, I will write chapter outlines before I start working on them. I noticed writing too far in advance lead to me just scraping a lot of ideas. I like to give myself some wiggle room to adjust if needed.

With the gag strips, it’s mostly just brainstorming a bunch of ideas and picking ones that work. I read in a book that recommended writing a list of ideas. Some people will carry around a small notebook and add to it if they suddenly get inspiration.

[ButterflyEmpress]

I can't pants. I'll get stuck somewhere again. This time I'm finishing the entire outline

[BoomerZ]

There is really only one way to write and that is with an outline. There are professional, well paid writers that have been doing this for decades that still write themselves into a corner all the time. Game of Thrones is a good example. You can get away with it for a while but it will catch up to you. Outlines give you a destination to work to and help you plan how to get there. It also allows you to make a coherent story and now just a wandering narrative.

[cherrystark]

I am a pantser but in my case, it's less "I sit down and BS an entire story and call it good" and more "I am crafting a scene in my head and putting it on paper." I am constantly revamping scenes in my head, whatever sticks around the longest, usually ends up in the scene.

There is really only one way to write and that is with an outline. There are professional, well paid writers that have been doing this for decades that still write themselves into a corner all the time. Game of Thrones is a good example. You can get away with it for a while but it will catch up to you. Outlines give you a destination to work to and help you plan how to get there. It also allows you to make a coherent story and now just a wandering narrative.

Yes, and there are professional, well-paid outlines who also write themselves into corners all the time. Outlines don't stop them from having plot holes or creating poorly constructed scenarios. It also doesn't stop writers from presenting the same story just with different plot devices (like Star Wars and Harry Potter.) A coherent story needs a writer who is actively focusing on crafting story.

[moontokkym]

I do want to add just in case it's not clear: both methods are equally viable in professionnal practice and usually professionnal writers are a solid mix of both, even though they'll tend to lean towards one or the other.

It can also be useful to think of outliners as being "front loaded" where most of the work comes before the first draft is written, while pantsers are "back loaded" where most of the work comes after the first draft is written. Pantsers will tend to have more extensive structural edits in draft 2 while someone who is a good outliner will be able to concentrate more on tightening scenes and moving more minor things around without completely changing which act scenes happen in for example.

Also both have their advantages and flaws. For one, pantsers tend to actually be able to finish first drafts even if they don't want to go through the editing process afterwards, they still have a book, whereas outliners who abandon a project might just have 2 chapters and 50 pages of notes. Outliners might have an easier time working in collaboration because they can make plans and follow them while pantsers might have a harder time adapting to the lessened freedom that comes with working on a team.

Saying or arguing one or the other is "better" or "more professional" is a frivolous endeavour that does no one any good.

[cherrystark]

Saying or arguing one or the other is "better" or "more professional" is a frivolous endeavour that does no one any good.

I agree!!! It's like arguing the best way to learn! As long as you're learning, why does it matter? People need to learn how to write best for themselves. A lot of online people tote outlining as the only way to operate, which can leave a lot of newer writers frustrated. They need to learn their own style.

[Lensing]

100% agree with both of you and I know some really famous comic artists / writers who are
pantsers and they reached a level of success we can only dream of

[BoomerZ]

My point was not that one is more professional than another. Professional means you get paid, that is all. My point is writers well into knowing their craft have written themselves into corners by not having a plan. And bringing up the "writers that plan also write themselves into corners" is not an argument to make, as by planning you have a better chance of not doing that. There are special writers than can just plow ahead and write as they go, keeping track of what's going on. But that is a very small minority, a minority you are most likely not part of. Those people are also mostly seasoned writers that know what they are doing, which if you are just starting out, is not you. Don't make it harder on yourself because you think you're special and can do it another way. People did not start writing yesterday. There is a process that works. Use that process.

[toonben]

An outliner works best for me to allow me organize my story and execute according to my plan. Pantsing can be tricky for me.