I'm a total pantser, everything I have here on Tapas is pantsed as is everything I've ever written.

I'm on Volume III of my Bright Morn series, I know basically what I sorta-kinda want to do but other than that, I work as I go. I've been writing for a long time professionally (these are my first novels, I usually write scripts) and it's served me well so far.

But... everyone should work the way that works the best for them, whether they're a plotter, a pantser or a combination of the two.

Since I'm adapting a story I wrote for another format, I already know the basic plot, so I started with an outline of that, added in some other plot elements that help me to maintain interest in an idea I already wrote once, and figured out a timeline of how it all fits together. Then I broke that down into chunks (expecting to take a week off from the normal update schedule between them) and am breaking those chunks down into sets of individual updates as I get to each one. Then I write the scripts.

I'm just starting on the second chunk now, so I can't say this is really a tried and true method for me, but it made the project seem manageable to approach.

How I plan?

Persis, very, very Persis.

My comic had its script 100% written by the time I started drawing. Yes I have all 6 volumes (7 chapters with 25 pages per each chapter) written and scripted. Planned for all.

My novel I'm going like this

I have 3 arcs

I fully plan out one arc at a time (mind maps then chapter by chapter summary) and finally I write.

Once I'm done with one arc I would plan out the next.

I'm currently writing my second arc

I'm planner to my very core cus my thoughts are too spacy and cluttered.

Not that I have a lot of experience to talk about, but I'm kinda like you. I start planning it out after it starts to get a bit long. I keep a character list, and a chronological order of episode/chapter titles with a short summary of each, to try to keep from writing a chapter that contradicts something earlier.

I am a pantser. I am constantly jotting down story ideas and making up different scenarios for my characters to be in. My plotlines are character-driven. My biggest piece of advice for writing characters is to write people not placeholders. I've noticed in some stuff that I've read lately where characters basically check boxes: "plain" MC (check), mysterious broody love interest (check), wacky BFF (check). You get the picture.

It's totally fine to have an idea of who you want your characters to be and where you want them to end up. The key is to give them something that makes them feel fundamentally human. You can have your tough as nails female MC who is great at spitting one-liners, but let her be in a healthy relationship and if children fit into the plot, let her be a mom. I know women like this IRL and they can be fiercely loyal and amazing friends. "Composites" of people have proven to me, to be much easier to write and easier to introduce facts about that help move the plot along.

What the hell is a "plan"?

I think my neighbors on the first floor just heard me laugh, I'm on the third. Thank you.

I didn't have any experience with webcomics when I came to Tapas, I planned a short adventure to test the waters. I had a general script, nothing too rigid and I'm so glad I didn't plan the whole series because my expectations and the format were way different than I imagined. I had to adapt everything after learning and getting feedback from the readers and artists.

Now I work with a very lose idea of the dialogue but I have a very clear idea of the events that have to happen in every episode so that the story makes sense. Some events are non-negotiable unmovable but others might change a bit. I have flexibility and freedom mostly because I know my characters and story by heart and I can play with both. But If I had to collab with another person I would have to write everything down.

I generally pants my way through a short(ish) (ok not short at all) draft novel that I bash into shape with a sledge hammer and a lot of merciless cutting afterwards and then call that a rough script for my comic (and then try really hard not to ignore it when I get hit with a new better sparkly idea). As for that draft novel it tends to be done in a sorta roleplay kinda way (I have been known to rp them with friends to get things down). It's more there's characters and this is the world and here's an inciting incident or goal, figure out the rest in the process.

it's an rp, so sometimes we just get a premise and go with that, other times we have a premise and a goal and try to do with that.
adapting it into a comic, i have the chance to go back and alter things to better foreshadow later plot points, which by the nature of RP, are all pantsed.
i don't even know how it's going to end, because we're still RPing stuff! But the nice thing about revisiting earlier plot points is that we're reminded of old details that we can go back and revisit. (like edwin's partially broken nose...)

I am like those characters in the movies who say "Follow me, I have a genius plan!" and answer with "We'll just see how it is later" when confronted on what it actually is.

For the art analogy I just have a rough sketch and color reference, where I will line art and color and draw the background at the same time.

Same, quality is everything. The entire story could center around any lazy Tuesday afternoon and still be enjoyable with solid characters.

My novel is about characters telling the stories of their lives, and it was very important to me that I get the order right. start with the two characters that bicker constantly, get some conflict and fun insults going. Then move on to the character who doesn't have a rival or a best friend but gets backlash from everyone. Then the character who's really close to the character that gives the big stinger finishing act.

When I plan a story, I start off winging it! But... as the story gets longer and the world I built gets more complicated, I start writing things down. Lol. First, I just jot down all my ideas, or anything I want to do in the story. Sometimes I do this on paper, and sometimes I do it in my OneNote. Later, I go back and figure out where I want that to happen in the story, and then kind of wing the in-between bits so I can get to the scene I wanted. lol.

Sometimes, I throw in a sketch. Or if I'm working in my OneNote, I find images that serve as inspirations for looks, settings, and characters. I'm very visual. So, while I'm not the greatest artist, I can use the heck out of google search.

I had a general idea of what I wanted for Fox Fire's beginning and ending, but not all of the stuff in between. I spent months writing on outline which actually started out as a typical male-female supernatural romance. Eventually, I felt people wouldn't read it since I wasn't feeling it myself, so I changed it to a BL. The bad guy who was supposed to be just the bad guy became part of the main pair You could say I had to spend a lot of extra time changing the plot and character backgrounds.

When I started writing, I wrote it meticulously by the outline until around chapter 35. Sometimes I'd get an idea while eating, showering, driving, etc., and I wanted to put it into the novel. After that, I've sorta been writing on the spot (currently at chapter 56). Some major reveals occurred sooner than I thought, so I've been adjusting some parts/ending in my Word outline (which is like, 60 pages btw! There's something so satisfying about seeing the whole story summary in a single document). Now, I'm trying to get out of that 'writing on the spot, unplanned' mode, and circle back to the outline.

I agree with the little ideas and putting them somewhere for later! They occasionally come to me in the most random times. I type them at the very top of my outline summary in bullet points (or in my phone if I'm out somewhere). I also use that section for reminders and helpful reference websites.

I've scripted 90% of the first 'book' for Blue Star Rebellion, and I have some broad-strokes ideas of what the plots of Book 2 and Book 3 will deal with. I also know what the final, ending scene will be. But beyond Chapter 3, I have no idea how I'm getting to that ending scene, haha. It's so far off in the future that it doesn't matter yet, each book will probably take me about a year to make.

So I'd say I'm halfway between a pantser and a plotter, writing-wise. I wouldn't start drawing a page unless I had the script complete for about the next ten pages because I'm attentive to pacing and so-on, but nor am I willing to wait until the whole story is 100% complete before I start, or I'd never start.

As for planning a page... I visualise the scene in my head over and over, like an animation, then start mentally picking through that for the most important moments to convey action, emotion, characterisation, humour and so on. I then start visualising those as still images, and mentally assemble them together into what kind of panels would work best for them. (This is all mental, I'm not drawing anything yet!)

When I do start laying out a page, I'll lay down a panel arrangement I think will work then start scribbling VERY roughly what's happening in each panel. (With the page I'm working on now, I just wrote words in them to start with!) Sometimes the layout works the first time; sometimes it doesn't, and I'll keep trying different layouts until I stumble upon the one which will work. I don't start sketching neatly until I know where everything is going and where the dialogue will fit.

It's weird when I think about it, that so much of my comics process is pure visualisation rather than pencil-on-iPad, but it's what works for me! It also means that a substantial chunk of my creative process can be done literally anywhere. It's nice that for me, 'relaxing in the bath' can be an enormously productive thing to do!

Hmm, well I write out the whole story like a plot synopsis, then I adapt it into a script or written story. XD Sometimes I add things in there that I didn't originally plan since I think they fit well.

With me, I get a small summary of what the story is about. No more than 5 sentences. Then I imagine myself as either the main character or another character, so that way I am able to get more sides of the same story. Since I love fantasy s much, I watch a lot of fantasy anime, video games, read a lot of fantasy books, webcomics, and read up on mythology and the supernatural. After that, I map out what it is that I want to make the story about. I start to form the beginning, which is basically what I see in my head, and I try to use my own experiences to help me figure out parts that I am unable to see clearly. From there, I try to write out what I see in my head with as much detail as I can.

1. Start with a synopsis.
2. Rewrite your synopsis into a plot summary.
3. Turn your plot summary into chapter summaries.
4. Write chapters from summaries, as a rough draft.
5. Refine your rough draft into a first draft.
6. Re-read and edit your first draft until it's polished, then post it chapter-by-chapter.

This is what you're supposed to do. I just stop at step 3, then post my rough drafts as I write them and edit as I go. It's more fun that way, though it's probably better to write the whole novel before posting any of it. That being said, some feedback really helps you navigate what parts of it are working, to keep it from feeling like a dry piece of chalk that keeps breaking in half.

It's really cool to see what the process of creating is like for everyone and how it differs from one person to another. For me, it's a little complicated. On one hand, I find my stories more fun, unpredictable and original when I don't plan them, but then I get plot holes and character inconsistencies. If I do plan for a story, then I rarely have plot holes, but the story ends up boring me something awful. I'm currently planning to go back to making comics and I might just go the pantser way for this.

Most of my ideas are in my head. I have a general idea about where the story goes (in my mind is like I'm watching an anime with scenes of my series).

I work on batches, and I think I'll settle for 12 pages per month (writing, sketch, lineart, color, etc).

It varies with stories and genre for me. I'm a plantser, though. Currently, I plan a whole outline of the book, and then I cut it into smaller pieces (chapters) and I start writing. I usually leave it open for organic writing here and there where characters chose more what happens as long they get from point A to point B.

Fanfics are overall easier to create planning wise.

I'm apparently chaotic and yet super organized.

(whispers you may need to send help)