When you have your idea for your webcomic and you want to start writing the whole plot line for your chapters, do you write it like how you would write a book? In long form essay type of writing, or do you immediately write scripts with thumbnails?
Sep '16
Feb '20
I'm doing a bit of both, but I think I'm leaning towards going straight to thumbnails nowadays. It's not always optimal, but it makes me go forward, I tend to be stuck in text scripts a bit too long sometimes.
Mind you, I usually draw my webcomic during october-april, so I usually have a lot of time inbetween to think out the next storyline, write down and sketch on ideas I want to put in etc etc. For me, going straight to thumbnails is the best choice =)
A mixture. Usually I warm up with longform -- just because im most comfortable with it, the pen gets the ideas flowing, and much of my stories originally intended to be prose anyway --- then after maybe a page or so i get the hang of it, so i write the remainder in script form with thumbnails accompanying. the scripts with thumbnails definitely goes a lot faster.
I write a bunch of brainstorming notes, then write an outline, and then I start doing page-breakdowns in text/thumbnails with dialogue. There's not really a stage where I write it like a book, or like an essay, in any kind of prose.
Here's my outline for the first few chapters:
Masahiro and Akane meet in the woods. Masahiro tries to leave Akane, this fails. (see plot-notes)
Bandit fight+introduction of Chouko
Masahiro and Akane arrive in silent town, fight the demon in the shrine. (see plot-notes)
Aaaand the "see plot-notes" thing is a reminder to myself to check the separate document I keep (called "plotnotes-FORREALSIES.odt" because I'm a dork) in which I've got reminders of things like character personalities, backstories, discussions with myself about how to pull of a certain scene and when/how to introduce important characters. It's basically a bloody mess, but I somehow manage to find coherence in it.
Honestly this is probably really horrible to admit but I've been kind of "winging" a lot of things in a sense that like... I have a solid idea of the direction my comic is going and what major events and plot beats need to be hit to get to the ending, but in terms of like actual dialogue and like individual/filler actions I just kind of come up with it as I come up to work on the page. I don't usually write a script at all--I'll thumbnail the scene as I imagine it playing out in my head and then write the dialogue afterwards or even after I've completely finished the page, usually.
I think probably as I progress I'll need to start doing some more preparatory work before I start my pages but for now I like this method because it allows me to come up with new ideas as the comic progresses and so I can replace or alter scenes/entire chapters without feeling tied down to anything specific.
I scribble down notes and plot ideas; once I formulate a bunch of them into a possible cohesive story, then I script. Makes it easier for me to break down into actual pages that I can work on.
i write mine as a book, then transfer it over from that into a comic script format - first plotline, then panel by panel with thumbnails. it helps get the plot clear for me.
Think there was a forum topic similar to this not long back.
I love foreshadowing. Problem with that is you need a pretty good script so as not to lose yourself in all the to and fro, or accidentally creating a plot hole that someone will call you out on. So I need quite a solid plot.
Problem is with each scene I draw, I usually think of something new or better. And sometimes that forces me to review my entire story. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. The ideas are sharper and clearer for the most part. It's just time consuming and scary when you're trying to hit those publishing dates.
The thing that worked for me is first write the characters biography, first thing is having clear his/her origin and his/her goal, once that is defined the biography comes nice. The character's biography helps a lot to write the story of the comic, is the start point of everything. Then I write a sinopsis of every chapter and later I write the script of every chapter.
So, originally I was only scripting a couple of pages ahead just because I'd been sick of sitting on my Plans To Make A Comic for so long; if I waited until all the setup was done I would never be ready, so I figured I'd just pull the trigger and go for it. For awhile I was scripting, pencilling and inking a page in the same week.
While I dont regret doing this just to get myself started on this project, it made a lot of the early pages3 feel rushed or slapdash to me, coupled with frequent delays when unexpected challenges in the art turned up. I've since changed over to writing detailed scripts, ideally multiple storylines in advance with notations for recommended panel breakdowns, which I think has yielded significantly2 better results.
Character biographies and setting bibles have also been a godsend, just because it can be hard to remember all the details and mechanisms you've put together to make a coherent story. Dont be scared to just stockpile scraps of writing or ideas that you know you want to include, but aren't sure where yet. It's all valuable.
Oof just imagining writing long form for comics is making me dizzy. I love writing and write short stories in my spare time... but writing your comic out as a story before making a script seems like a lot of extra work if it's for your eyes only. I'd be sad to basically lose the writing to the art. Like anything clever or beautiful you write in the descriptive text would be lost when you drew it out. Not to mention it'd be a major time-suck in a process that's already really time consuming.
I usually outline and then jump into writing the script. But I never start drawing until I have the script finalized.
I never do long form. The only long form I do is a list of notes for setting, character building etc.
As someone who wants to become a comic writer, primarily, I've been working hard to write out full scripts and working from those. It's said that Alan Moore's strength was that he was able to approach scripts as a writer and art as an artist, and he kept the two worlds separate. This meant 100% artistic integrity in both realms. I think that is super important.
I used to draw thumbnails and add dialogue post-thumbnailing, but the storytelling would be very clumsy at times. I find that with a script, I can get the full breadth of action and dialogue in the way it should be envisioned, without having to worry about art, yet.
The first thing I usually write down when I have an idea is the premise, "so and so is this many years old, they live here, and want this, but … and so forth."
And this sometimes turns into a rough outline of the whole story.
But often I'll just start rolling it as a film in my mind and begin scripting.
I do long form... but not like a typical story. It's kinda like a weird mixture of a scripts, bullet points and descriptions. It's messy but it works for me.
I find it's too much work do a script because it has a specific format and I cannot for the life of me visualize the scene in a script.
I write a short put complete sinopsis of the whole plot, with the main points very clear. Then I write the chapter and a small description of what happens, divided by page with dialogs and a description of what's going on on each panel. Then I do a sketch of each page til the one I have written, usually 5-9. That way I can progress on the drawing but also on the story without leaving the other behind.
Each of my chapters is a separate short story, but I made sure I had all the ideas before I started making storyboards for the first one. I didn't need it, but I felt more comfortable knowing that from then on, I can change some aspects of the stories, but the general idea is there.
I wrote the general concept of the story, perfected the characters in the meantime, then build a scenario with the dialogues around that, and THEN, went to drawing.
Not sure if I can help, as I am only good with writing fan fiction novels or stories for others >.>
But, I always start with the idea I have in my mind and from that point on work further, as an example: Characters > Bio > Location > Event > Script > Wing it > The End.
So it usually comes out like this (as a in the middle part):
''Miranda, suddenly stood still in the middle of the streets, looking around her and seeing not a single living person wherever her eyes were looking towards... and with a deep sigh she said to herself''
Miranda: Sigh... Maybe I am cursed to be forever alone.. If only my family did not-
And that's about it. I often create fan fiction/stories in this kind of way (not story wise xD). But, I do always keep on re-reading/editing, with every single sentence I add, in order to check if it works.
If it is for something, as in multiple chapters (Long Run), I tend to write the first chapter in the form of a long essay and the further I go before finalizing I keep adding more and more thumbnails for the next one in order to keep track on the progress and continuation of the plot.
Not sure If I was helpful, sorry!
Personally I do a mixture of thumb nailing and scripts. If it's mostly an action scene those are the ones I thumb nail it helps me move the story forward without getting caught up in how to describe each part of the fight. If it involves character development that is the stuff I script. I also force my younger brother to read the parts with me to make sure that it actually sounds like two real human people talking (it's too easy to make everybody sound like the same person) lol.
