Creators. how far ahead do you write your longform script?

For about a year I was doing the chapter by chapter business. I had an idea of where it would go, but I was pretty much exploring the characters and their rapport. I then traded critiques with a fellow comic creator and realised that … he was right, I needed to clean up my goals! I had also read something by another comic creator who said they scripted everything out and even knew how many pages a comic would be. I was floored. The page count! Does anyone else do this?

But I didn't quite go that far. I knew the main points, arcs, etc already. I had just been filling in the blanks as I went along. I used to write scripts by hand (and I do still write out those quick ideas in my notebook), but one day I happened to have my computer but not the notebook and I just began typing and never stopped. Somehow, within days, I had the entire script defined.

Sometimes a change in my routine can do that. That was probably the best feeling in the world, when I reached the end. I was floating around for days in this glorious haze like, I know where it ends. I have the end. Ah, natural comic highs.

Anyway, the whole thing is planned out. That doesn't mean I am not messing around with it every week! I move chapters around, cut some, add some, etc as it suits the needs of the story. I also have it set out in twine, which is software for making text games, because I can write out main points or things that need to be addressed and just move them around on the board to make sure I am not forgetting them (by accident). It helps me keep track of main points, events, actions and things that need to be revealed before such-and-such incident. (btw if anyone is curious about twine, it's free, you can get it here: http://twinery.org6)

tl;dr: Whole script done. I edit very, very carefully about ten chapters in advance. I story-board chapter by chapter. End is absolutely set; other things may move as necessary!

I have a very general outline spanning the entire story of Grassblades6 - from beginning to the very end. And by "very general", I mean my first chapter is summed up as follows - "Masahiro and Akane meet --> they go to town, he leaves her". That turned into 33 pages and got a BUNCH more details filled in and more stuff tacked onto the end once I sat down and actually started working on the chapter - but the outline is good to have, because it allows me to have an idea of where I'm going, and where each scene needs to end up.

But it's also so general that I can adapt it.

I mean, I know who each of the major characters are/will be, and I know where they'll show up in the story, and I know how everything ends. But I have creative freedom when it comes to HOW all of that stuff happens, and I'm free to add scenes or subtract scenes wherever I feel it's necessary.

I then script the story chapter by chapter; I decide which general notes of the outline should go into one single chapter, and then I sit down with a pencil and some paper and I start storyboarding and writing the dialogue together. I really can't write it all as just plain text and THEN do the storyboards; they kind of have to grow together for me.

This process allows me just the right amount of structure to keep me headed in the right direction, and just the right amount of structure to keep me from getting bored AND allowing me to fix things that weren't super-great in my outline (because you KNOW there are gonna be some of those; sometimes, we can't see the problems before you run into them). For example - I realised that I needed my secondary characters to show up a little more often to keep people from forgetting them, so there's a brand new scene in chapter four that doesn't exist in the outline, and there's another coming up in chapter... six, I think? Also, I can do a bunch of foreshadowing of stuff, because I know where we're going.

I also have a buffer of pages, so that I'm VERY far ahead of what's being posted online (55 pages ahead, at last count) - this means that once I finish drawing a chapter, I can go back and tweak and adapt the dialogue one last time, if that's necessary.

I don't write the ENTIRE story by script first because my mind does tend to change as I go along, I know what I want especially for the beginning, middle and ending. The way I make stories is well...I think a bit odd. When I do the writing it tends to change drastically in the storyboards and thumbnails, even though that does tend to happen I just use the script to give me a basic idea on what to do for the scenes. I guess I just write better by pictures shrugs

I have my whole story planned with ideas written down in points- to remember what I need to include, parts that are the most important for the story and some random dialogues. As for detailed script/thumbnails, I am a chapter ahead. So before I start working on chapter 2, I draw storyboard for chapter 3. This way I still have time to change it if I get some new ideas c: (though of course there are also some last-minute changes while drawing).

So far I have every scene plotted down to the exact number of pages up to about 180 pages worth, which encapsulates a beginning, middle and end, but in truth, I've only actually plotted the final script up to page 35.

The main timeline from beginning to end is plotted out before I even draw the first page. Little events that build on character exposition but do not influence the story course are inserted as the story progresses and I think on it more. Finally the actual dialogue is done when I work on the chapter-by-chapter thumbnails.

Yes, but the difference between most creators and serialized manga artists is that serialized manga artists have editors to keep track and pay attention to that sort of stuff (especially since the editors can often be the ones offering direction in how a story should go - that's their job).

Most creators are working on their own (and I say most because yes, some are working for companies, ex. Mikiko, and others are working with writers/artists as a team, ex. Reon Merryweather) and so it's best to start practicing and getting into the habit of crafting a good story through and through instead of trying to wing it. There's no downside to it - all it does is help you work out kinks in your story, make sure everything fits and works, and assures that you'll tell the best story that you can produce. Winging it only works for some people, and most of those stories are shorter and not as long and complex as series like One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, etc. (IMO, Bleach should have ended after the Aizen/Hueco Mundo arc, at the end of Volume 48; and One Piece isn't even half-done yet!)

Not to mention, while it still stands as one of the most popular animes to date, DB is not a good example of a well written piece of work. It's inconsistent, most of the love for the series comes from nostalgia and the high-action fight scenes, and DBZ has been said to be even worse. Lots of people love the Cell/Freeza/etc. saga but that was considered the highest point of that show, and everything else got most of its charm from its crazy martial arts sequences. The story itself is all over the place, and you're not really justifying your point by pointing out the fact that Akira Toriyama made it as he went along - cause if you look really closely and actually start thinking and looking for the plotholes/inconsistencies/etc., you can really, really tell.

(that being said I do love DB and have nothing against it, and don't want to start a fight over that lol DB is an awesome show/manga <3)

Far I would say, I've pretty much written the whole story from beginning to end with each chapter being a very detailed summary... Or more like a 10 page essay per chapter or something. But the script I will work on 1-3 chapters as I go based on the summary written. I have read the summary through and made adjustments, but when it comes to the script, I still tend to make more changes :\

Everyone will work differently - if you have a very detailed sort of story, definitely go the planning route to avoid plot holes and missing things out. The older versions of the series I am working on now has me going directly to a script, no summary, and a couple of dot points on the different arcs and events (a bit like how you are working now maybe??) I found this worked terribly for the kind of story I'm writing, it's also added pressure to make up good content as you go. A more meticulous method was needed for me ;_;

Well, I think it depends on who I am writing it for. If it is for fun, free, independent work, then it is rigidly planned out. My story, Beautiful Lies1, has every chapter planned out. Every event is planned out. I begin with a summary of each chapter, then a synopsis, then the thumbnails.

If it was a comic to be serialized, like my Hunter's Paradigm, I make sure I have the beginning planned out. Then I have a rough idea of how I want the story to go and I have an idea of how I want it to end. The rest is left up to the editor and how long they tolerate me before they want to get rid of me.

Hard question!
Everyone has a different process.
You gotta start with the big picture and then go more and more into details.
For Shades Of Men1 I knew how it started, how it ended and scenes I wanted to have.
I then scoped in connection in between moments.

I set twelve chapters, in which I know how it starts and how it ends...
From that I do a quick thumbnail at each beginning of chapters to plan the layout.

I didn't write the full scenario but rather summaries of each chapters.
The rest, I leave it flexible to work on the go.
So far... so good!

In my heyday I was writing for about five comics a week - I can't remember the total number of stories. But for two comics published by IPC I was writing for half the characters in "Buster" and half the characters in "Whizzer & Chips." Most were one page stories with 10-12 panels. The others were two page strips with a maximum of 24 panels. Then there were the D. C. Thomson comics. Some one page, others up to three pages. On top of this once a month I was doing two other comics, "Commando" and "Starblazer." Each was 64 pages long with 123/124 panels. They required a story pitch followed by 2-3 page synopsis before I could work on the scripts. I would spend Monday and Tuesday doing rough scripts in a notebook and the rest of the week typing them up. Fortunately I've always suffered from an over-active imagination which proved to be a great help.

I usually have all the major arcs, events and turning points planned out (and of course, the ending, which is A MUST when it comes to planning.)
When it comes to scripting individual chapters though, I usually write the entire thing first and then start drawing thumbnails for my pages. I do the thumbnails so I can get an idea of the composition, camera angles, paneling etc. before doing the final pages.

I wrote out the entire story of R:ILPERSONA1 from start to finish prior to ever writing the actual scripts. That way it helped me to develop general plot points that I needed to hit to advance the story, develop characters, add foreshadowing, etc.

Then I began plotting out the different arcs in between said plot points, fleshing out everything even further through an outline (a massive...massive outline). Then I developed a story bible, to flesh out the world, characters, designs, abilities so that I could keep everything consistent and also develop character traits, personality quirks, backstories, etc.

And then I started writing the scripts(and rewriting...editing...revising -_-). Its not as simple as it sounds because this was years of work prior to ever getting a single page completed but if I'm not leaving anything out that's the general crux of my writing process

I don't have a script for my comics. I always have some idiotic thing happens to me during the week and I use that for my comic.