Do you start knowing the finishing line?

[rodrigomush]

Lots of great answers from you guys :).
It's too personal to ask how you guys usually wrote comics? I haven't wrote a story focused comic in years, and younger me was a impulsive guy. Now days i try to write like doing some rough sketchs and storyboards, with notes in the corners, i can't invest in doing a all words script.

[afisch321]

I know where Elemental is going, but certainly have no idea how to get there!

[gnekomikero]

MY BRAIN IS BURSTING. i know how it ends but i dont know if i like it to end it. lol

[RewindLabs]

I will not be able to start it without knowing how it ends.

[mariusthered]

I write a script but I only write the dialogue, when i read it I know in my head who said what so i guess if anyone else read it off the comic page it would be confusing. I normally cut and paste from my word processor to the comic page. This is how I cut down on spelling mistakes although typos such as missing a letter off a word happens from time to time.

Going back to your main topic I have given it some more thought and I guess when you write a long form drama comic such as mine your ending comes in the for on plot lines, the trick is smoothly finishing one plot as a new one begins without stopping the roller coaster.

[glennsong]

For This Mortal Coil, I wrote out the script for this current story. I know how this one will end, but I don't know where the serial will go. That's how I mitigated not knowing everything before getting started. What I have is concrete enough to finish a story, so if I ever do quit, at least there's that. If I go on, I can continue to develop parts of the world through new stories.

[Thesleepypencil]

My "script" doesn't look like a script. And I'll rewrite the story about 4-5 times.
First i write a overall plot timeline. So i know both in which order the important plot points go, and what chapter they are in and how many chapters on average.
Second i take a notebook and rewite the timeline into it by chapter in extensive detail. It's all done in points formatioj saying stuff like "character asks about subject" or a description of the place. This explanation can happen from 1-3 times. For one of my stories ive gone through 3 notebooks reediting and moving info around.
and last rewrite isn't as much a rewrite as it is the storyboards/sketch for the pages.

for my current comment a person on tapastic had mentioned something on one of my pages that got me thinking and I'm now rewriting the second chapter of my comic into a new notebook side by side sketching the story AND doing the backgrounds lol

[KreativeConfusion]

I have most of the story figured out. Like major plot points, themes and the like for how I want the story to go down. I also have a general idea of how I want things to end but I think I'm going to let it go on it's own for now since It's just starting and I have a horrible habit of changing little ideas as I go.

[gnekomikero]

enjoy what you do. there is no good or bad decision

[Jabbage]

I definitely know the ending for my comics, and the middle and everything inbetween ALTHOUGH... there have been some details that I wasn't sure about and have tweaked as I went along. With my latest comic Breaking the Lore, I knew how I wanted the story to end but I didn't know what the very last scene should be. Then the answer suddenly came to me a few weeks back. Sometimes I'm pleased that comics are a slow process!

I think I'm a words-script kind of person. If I have a rough idea in my head then I just write down the rough sequence of events that I have in mind and then expand that into a playscript, which I'm constantly editing. I used to thumbnail and complete each page individually, but I've moved to doing them in chunks now. If I had the stamina, I'd probably thumbnail everything in advance. Perhaps next time!

[eschaefges]

I don't think you have to start writing knowing the ending, but I think its a good idea to start PUBLISHING knowing the ending.

A few reasons:

1) your audience can sense meandering. If your story started with a Big Epic Adventure premise or Gigantic Mystery but you spend pages upon pages spinning your wheels or checking out Sideplot 14, they will lose interest and move on (unless the art is phenomenal, and even then, its a dicey proposition).

2) longer isn't better. It CAN be, but generally speaking, the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potters, Game of Thrones of the world are rare - most truly great stories have a beginning, middle, and end you can read in one book. You can still end a story while allowing room for a sequel.

If you don't plan an ending, you may fall into a trap of not knowing HOW to end. Too many webcomics face this pattern:
-Epic Prologue
-Beginning
-Middle
-Middle
-Random Sideplot
-Middle
-Middle
-Another Random Sideplot
-Middle
-Middle
-Canceled Abruptly/Letdown Ending/Artist Starts New Webcomic/Artist Gets Paying Comic Job Which Prohibits Working On Free Comic/Artist Loses Interest.

I assume most everyone doesn't want to make that comic. The easiest way is to start small, and edit edit edit your story down to the essentials - if you get the main story done, you can always write spinoffs/supporting materials, ancillary stories, back-ups, etc.

I don't mean to sound preachy,and you can do whatever you want to do - but I do feel the best way to set yourself up for success is to finish what you start, and do at least SOME planning ahead.

[okellymx]

Of course I know the finish line, how else am I going to use literary devices.

[kennethjwagnon]

I used to make it up as I went, I would maybe plan out the chapter ahead, but that got me into trouble a lot. With my new book, a friend of mine recommended a process that he used, where you write out everything you can think of for the story onto post it notes. Every scene, setting, action, flashback etc. and then put it in order. I thought it was a dumb idea because I already had a notebook, but I tried it and I'm never going back!

(I do this on a mirror, just in case the image doesn't make sense!)

This way lets me flip scenes in and out and pop in new details when I have inspiration in a really organic and organized way. In my notebook, details would get pushed to another page or section and get lost.

I was surprised how writing it out all the way to the ending really helps the story as a whole.

[mariusthered]

@kennethjwagnon
lol, you too! this was my life while is was writing my first novel Dawn of dust , post it notes covered everything, every character plot line and where they connect or cross over , it works but can be a pain to live with.

[rodrigomush]

That's really a great idea, i need to try this :D!
This look particularly good for maintaining multiple cores.

[hushicho]

This is the way I write too. I usually have moments I want to do, and I have a basic idea of the story, but the last line isn't written until I discover it.

I feel like it's very important to let the characters shape the story as it's written, because if you steamroll your characters for the sake of a story you planned out too thoroughly, it can end up affecting that story detrimentally. Plus, if you aren't flexible enough to change things as you go, you might end up with a lesser story; sometimes things will occur that will inspire positive and excellent directions that were unforeseen when you plotted out the story originally.

[hushicho]

I do agree completely that longer isn't better. I also have some thoughts about all of the titles there that would probably make some people lose their heads at me, so I won't go into that.

I don't really agree entirely with the planning of an ending, though; it's often just impossible to do effectively at a relatively early point. Characters will evolve as the story is written. With many webcomics (and comics in general), the scope is unlimited, so the story could continue indefinitely. I don't really find this to be a bad thing, in and of itself, and I would almost always rather have an open ending or even a non-ending than one that neatly ties up most of the plot points.

It's just more satisfying, to me, to have a story where the heroes keep going as they were, something I can play out in my imagination forever if I like. It's much better than an unsatisfying ending which, I have to be honest, a lot of tie-up endings are. Whatever one's thoughts on it, writing an ending that doesn't satisfy the readers can really cast a pall on everything that built up to it and came before; a bad ending can ruin even a good story before it and sour the experience of ever having enjoyed it. Personally, I'd rather not take the chance.

But to answer the original question, I don't really start most series knowing the finish line. It seems presumptuous of me if I try to do that, since I really don't know how things will change as the characters become more developed and lively in the writing. It also bores me if I know exactly what's going to happen. It feels like I'm just going through the motions, and that's never something I feel translates well when I'm writing for an audience, especially if I'm bored too and it shows.

[PixyByte]

Each of my comic's stories start and end within the same comic strip, a plus side to a gag-a-day style webcomic
As far as how I'll end the storytelling of Pixy and her friends, no idea, maybe it will never end muahaha

[rodrigomush]

I starded in tapastic with a gag comic strip exactly because i didn't know if i would be able to plan wisely a story-based comic right now. lol

[nathankschulz]

Preach! Yes, exactly! The characters, as they grow and mature not only in your mind, but in the story, will start making choices that only they knew they would make. And if you decide against them, then you're just hurting the story. Sometimes the characters make the dialogue for me, and will react in a way I didn't expect, and that's when I get the most excited and pumped to keep writing. Its a very personal, hard to explain moment.