For plotting out a comic, I'll usually start really general and broad and then try to break it down to be more detailed.
So for example, if I just have the basic idea of my story, I might have
- heroes get kicked out of town when main character makes a mistake
- they go to wizard for help, realise they need to travel to a Magical Place
- after that they meet the other character on the way to Magical Place
- ???travel to Magical Place???
- arrive at Magical Place and-- (etc etc etc)
and then I'm gonna take each of these points and try to break down the basic beats of that point into an outline.
- go to wizard for help
-- heroes reach town
-- town is not normal, there is a plague and wizard isnt letting anyone in
-- etc etc etc
A thing that I try to think about when making an outline is cause and effect. So like, instead of seeing it as a list of events that I want to be plot-related, I try to think of how one point might have caused the next point, or going the other way, what might cause this point to happen.
which seems very simple, but this was a huge breakthrough for me, haha!
sometimes the points of an outline aren't directly connected to each other, but I know how previous events in the story lead to them:
when you can see the cause-and-effect, it makes everything feel more purposeful. It doesn't feel "unrelated to the plot" because it's the consequences of choices that the heroes have made.
When I have a spot in the story like the "???they travel to the place i guess????" point up there, where I don't really have an idea of what kind of conflict I want for that section (which is sort of a normal fixture of my outlines, especially in early stages) I'll think about (a) what are some things that are happening in the story that could cause conflict here, and (b) what's something that sounds really fun to do with these characters?
I have one chapter of a story where the main characters are kidnapped by someone unrelated to their quest -- but although the relation of the kidnappers to the plot isn't immediately apparent, it still matters because the main characters are on a time limit. As long as they maintain that urgency, this is an obstacle to their quest and it matters to the "main plot." So not every conflict has to directly be "plot-related" in order to not feel like filler -- as long as it's a fleshed-out, interesting conflict that gets in the way of something the heroes care about, it matters!
I don't know if this is the sort of thing you're looking for, but hopefully it made sense! If there's anything you want to ask for clarification on or if you have other questions please feel free, I'll be happy to share my process/thoughts on anything I can!!
