Starting a Comic When the Plot is Still... "In Progress"

[Tieback]

Haaaaaaa….. (Huge sigh of relief) I finally completed writing the 12 chapter (with prologue) synopsis of my current webcomic “The Archer and the Squirrel”. At the beginning of this project, I tried to write out the comic's full plot, but I struggled. I knew how the story would start and vaguely how it would end, but the middle was a giant question mark. So I took a chance and decided to start creating pages, even though I didn’t have most of the story planned out. However, after completing the prologue and chapter one, I could no longer push off writing the plot. So I sat down and pounded it out. I guess I got lucky, because the story seemed to come much easier then before. I felt like I understood the characters better, and knew how they would act and what motivated them. I'm super happy with the story I wrote, and I'm pumped more then ever to make new pages.

After writing the plot, I got to wondering how other artists go about creating their stories. Do you write out the whole story from start to finish, then start making pages? Do you start creating pages when you only have a general idea of what will happen, then come to a point where you have to finalize the plot? Or maybe you just make it up as you go from page to page? (Yikes, that's a scary thought for me!) I'd love to hear what other comic creators do.

[Michelle]

Congrats on sorting out your story! Always a good feeling when stuff finally clicks and you can fill in those giant gaps in the plot.

For me, I like to nail down the main beats of the story in an outline, but I write the chapters as I go along. If I tried to sit down and write my whole comic at once, I'd A) get incredibly bored, and B) feel too locked-in once it came time to draw the pages. Having the outlines allows me to know what the story needs to accomplish in each chapter, but writing it chapter-by-chapter leaves me room to make improvements and tweaks to the plot and characters. Really, I tend to make tweaks up to the last moment, like changing the dialogue before finishing a page.

[niinasalmelin]

Well I started to do my comic when I was clear on the beginning and the end, middle part was more vague but still there. End is very important to know before you start because you can build up to it. Just make sure you know what main points happen, why they happen and what consequences they have. You don't have to get too hung up over these if you change your mind in the middle of making it, but it's more safe to have something waiting at the end.

[shazzbaa]

When I officially started RW and began posting it online, I had:

• five pages finished
• half of the first chapter completely scripted, with rough story beats for the rest of the chapter (these got majorly altered as I went)
• rough story beats for Chapter 2 (this got majorly altered when I got there)
• a one-sentence idea of what I wanted to happen in the rest of "Part 1," which was the next 4 chapters (not specific, either; like, "in chapter three they meet Xira and Æmber and Xira helps them," I hadn't actually figured out the conflict of that chapter yet)
• a rough summary of what I wanted to happen in "Part 2" (ch 6-10) of the story, not really set into chapters (this is now about 90% different)
• an idea of how I wanted the ending to eventually go
• absolutely no idea what would be happening in Part 3.

I feel like if I started a new story at some point in the future, I'd probably want to start with more of the story solidified, but I also think I really couldn't have started with more for my first comic. I couldn't have planned the whole thing without the knowledge that I gained from jumping into the first part! I don't think you got lucky -- I honestly felt the same way. There's a lot you learn from actually creating the comic that's impossible to know before you get started.

[dojo]

The only comic I finished the script ahead of time, I never finished. Well, technically I've never finished anything, but HEY.

I don't know, the past few times I tried writing my script out ahead of time I'd start thumbnailing and start veering off script with improv and jokes and ideas I felt worked way better than what I had written down that I just kinda stopped trying to do that. Maybe that's a bad thing, since I do think the story in both comics are weak in some parts, but EH. It's really just a learning experience right now. The more I do, the more I'll feel out what works and what doesn't work so when I finally do start working on one of my ideas I'd actually want to try and get published, it'll be GOOD STUFF.

My process is more of a "scribble a mass of sketches ahead of time" as opposed to writing a script. I have the entirety of chapter 1 and part of chapter 2 for both of my comics scribbled out, but nothing beyond that besides moments I think could be cool that I jot down or doodle. I was actually going to make a forum topic about this a few days ago before deciding I wasn't up to it, but it basically was going to have to do with bad artist habits that work for you (might still do it at some point, who knows). BUT YEAH I do some planning, but a lot of stuff gets changed when I go into making the finished pages. For example this:

became this:

I do take a lot into consideration over what I change, though. Like in the case of this page, I felt like this dialog explained slightly more while at the same time still managing to tell the reader how the next page will proceed (they make their way to "the master"). I also changed up the angles a lot to make them more interesting while still trying to serve the story. (Such as Faida's head is always above Ramiel's because she's the one who holds more power in the conversation, being the one who has answers and whatnot)

Okay I'm getting really rambly about stuff this topic wasn't even about so I'll stop myself there, but YEAH, you get the idea. I don't think it's a bad idea to just jump into things because learning is more important, cuz trying to have something perfect ahead of time could drive you crazy especially if it's not something you're used to doing.

[hushicho]

I've tried a lot of things over the years, and speaking personally, if I script things out to too much detail...I lose interest completely and drop the project. I can't do it. I've also had too many experiences where the writer wants to micro-manage the art instead of leaving it to the artist to...you know...do the artist's job. I'm just not a "detailed script" kind of person.

Usually when starting an episode, I know the general idea of a story and, before starting, usually decide how it's going to start, how it's going to end up, and a few key scenes I want to illustrate in the story. The rest comes as it will during the creative process. This helps me keep my own interest and, ideally, the audience's. If I can't keep my own interest, I feel certain the audience is not going to care.

I know it's not like every creator out there, but that's the only way that's worked for me.

Something I have started, which I believe has immensely helped the cohesion of my individual chapters, has been going through, drawing all of the pages for the chapter, and then going back once those are done and doing all the dialogue in one sweep. It allows me to adjust the dialogue, as needed, for space (though I always leave space for dialogue) and for leading from one comic to the next, whenever I can. I feel like that makes the story come together and the dialogue more coherent and cohesive. It makes it feel like a more solid story, and whether reading it update-to-update or all at once when it's done, makes it more enjoyable.

[DavidPerry]

To begin, I have detailed character development documents created. This is the most important thing, because once you know your characters back and forth, you can fly by the seat of your pants MUCH easier. Once I know the characters, I give them each a primary goal, and keep that in mind loosely as I begin writing stories.

It isn't a big deal to not know exactly where you're going. I like the organic movement of writing as it unfolds. If you know enough about good writing and story development, you'll be fine. Besides, this is pretty common in television writing. It's good because it keeps you from forcing your characters into situation that they may not otherwise go. You begin to feel out what they're feeling as you write off the top of your head, and you sort of develop WITH the characters.

I find it makes for better character development and a more engaging (and less forced) story.

[perfectboy]

i think it really varies from person to person, but i definitely have struggled with how to best approach this. I know how i like to do it is really start loosely and let myself discover the story as I go along...I feel I'm actually more creatively hindered if I do what you did and pound out all the details before I actually create any of the pages.

That being said, I'm writing short stories, and that's probably a whole different creature then doing the kind of story you're creating. I'm doing a lot of experimenting, atm

[Kura]

I find that when I 100% complete the story before I start drawing it out, I get impatient. There are certain scenes or characters that will take me years to get to. After a while I start to feel incompetent not being able to draw out my story fast enough. I get lost in the script, reading ahead to the parts that I can't wait to get to. I waste a lot of time doing this, and I would find myself doing this a lot. Eventually I would also get bored drawing, I'm more of a writer, not a drawer. This results with me starting up another story project to fill the 'need to just write' hole. Making it harder to work on the project I'm drawing because my creative focus is now on my new project. Most of the time I would eventually give up and stop working on the comic. I tried this method for several comic attempts, the one that got the furthest being Raven Wolf at around 250 drawing pages, which barely touches the script still waiting to be drawn out, my other attempts usually got around 30 - 60 pages in. (I still work on that comic actually, just very slowly) Writing comics was not working for me very in this way. I had to try something else.

I tried a type of 'create it as you go' method. Starting out with concepts, characters and a some character and story driven goals, and I left everything else open ended. It didn't work for me, it was too much uncertainty, and any new ideas that would change details or the world I could not use else I would have to re-do previous pages. It was frustrating, writing wise I felt trapped because I could not do a lot of things that I would usually do in a story creating process, I couldn't foreshadow, drop hits about characters or story, and I often I would not give myself the time I needed to flesh out events or dialogue, sometimes events felt pointless, and some directions would hit walls, and walls are harder to fix as you're drawing everything the same time you are writing it, because you cannot got back, or decide 'nope this isn't working, need to start over' like you can when writing a complete story. Also and most importantly, I felt like I had no goals, and ultimately, not point. I gave up pretty quickly on the comic I tried this method on only around 20 pages. The process was so frustrating that I never repeated the method.

The method that works for me was for me to have a cast of characters, a written and defined beginning, a written and defined end, and several key moments, events, stories that would happen throughout (in no particular order) some of these 'arcs' or scenes will not be finished and will be left for me to figure later. Essentially, the story has been written, but it hasn't been completely finished. It's still rough with a lot of cleaning up and polishing to do, with a lot of openings missing scenes and dialog. As I draw my pages I also polish out and finish the story. I try to have at least five or more cleaned up and finished chapters ahead of what I draw, and I never start drawing an incomplete chapter, but I never focus on writing so much that I finish going through the entire story. I need to be stimulated and active in both writing and drawing or I will lose interest drawing. So far this method has worked best for me, and my comic using this method has over 1000 pages and counting drawn to it now.

So yeah, a controlled, thought out yet still in progress method is what works best for me.

[eleoza]

I started my comic with no plot at all. In a nutshell; my comic was supposed to be a joke to tease my best friend who hates BL. Plot grew on it's own, along the way I started to get idea's. I have an ending planned out at this point and the main plot is done. But even as I draw my pages nowdays the scenes still change. Sometimes I just don't stick to what I had in mind. I like it that way tbh. The comic stays new and surprising for myself that way.

[UrMom]

Oh god, I'm awful when it comes to the pre-planning part. With my first serious-ish comic I legit flew by the seat of my pants with it, only had the first chapter figured out. With 'VTGtaHR' I got a beginning and an end, but a partially figured out middle. It helped that I scratched down what I wanted to happen in a notebook, despite never looking at it ever again. I didn't completely know what I wanted the setting to be, I knew it would be California, but I didn't settle on some made-up place similar to San Francisco till I started drawing.

Basically, I'm really unorganized but I kinda like it like that. If I had to sit down and script out every little thing, I would give up before even starting because writing is the worst thing ever.

[spadesart]

My comic started with 4 premade pages, a script for chapter 1 (that got edited a lot while i was making pages) and an outline up to chapter 2-3(??)
I knew the major story points I wanted to have and the ending to the first main arc, I'm currently working on the plot for the second main arc. It's probably more than 4 years away though so I've got time :v

[Shanny8]

When I started doing my Ray Thunder webcomic, I had the script for the 1st chapter written, but the most of the plot for the overall series is still in flux. I will start back on scripting Ch 2 next week during the Thanksgiving holidays, and I'm trying to figure a solution to a situation that I wanted to write, but hadnt fully thought the whole situation through.

I'm not one of those types to write stuff way ahead of time, coz my views on a concept or situation could change over time. I tend to keep my writing loose so that way I can always change up or improve on something.

[ChipGod]

Nah, I make it up as I go

[DMBrigman]

Like you I started with a beginning and an end, and a vague idea of the middle.

I decided to start by defining the first arc, a series of 5 chapters and wrote down what I wanted to happen in each chapter. Then I started writing, really rough at first and refining as I went along. I discovered as I wrote each new chapter I would go back and adjust things in previous chapters. I really solidified Chapter 1 and 2 before I started drawing. I did find once I started drawing that I added a lot of character expressions/acting, and really started knowing the characters.

So, I am nowhere near the end but I am working 2 chapters into the future as I go along so I can work to an overall goal but still have enough freedom to change things around if they aren't working for the story.

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

Basically I have a vague idea of how everything is going to work. I understand the foundation of the plot and how the characters work together. I don't spend too much time on story during pre-planning because my ideas evolve. I might find a better way of answering a question I have or embellish something once I've gotten to work on it. I think it's less messy than winging it and less rigid than setting the whole thing in stone start to finish.

[Kamikaze]

For Kamikaze, the plot bit is...well it's a kinda tricky. We have a loose idea of the overall story, but each volume (meaning about every 120~ pages) is written on it's own one at a time. I have a background in screen writing, so I use methods and tools from there to help keep track of where I'm going.

Case in point: We have plans for some 32+ volumes, but I can't possibly write out that much at once. So I created the very basics of the overarching story, beating it out into the big core moments that have to happen, and then divided those moments into a series of volumes almost like a TV season. Right now we're effectively in "season 1" and I've focused on how many volumes I want to make (8) and a logline for each Volume. Having a logline allows me to know the highlevel needs of that volume, which I can then further chisel into shape by building it out.

So it's kind of a macro to a micro system of plotting I guess. Big picture to small picture. From there it's all writing one Volume at a time. We don't start drawing until we have the ENTIRE written script approved. For example, while we're nearing the close of act 4 of Volume 2 now, I'm already in the 2nd draft of Volume 3's script. Once the script it done it gets broken into comic pages, and then taken to thumbnails.

It's a long, involved and kind of roundabout way of doing things, but when we have an entire script done there's little to no changes that happen and everything's ready to go. In short: There's a minimal amount of metaphorical dumpster fires I have to put out xD

[radicles]

This is a really interesting question, so right now i'll say- ive never ever finished a comic project, but ive tried a lot of things

A few years back id just think about a story, do the designs, think about some scenes and make up page by page as i went on. Never worked much and the results werent of my liking :[ after that, i decided id brainstorm with friends and do a more detailed summary of what i wanted to do and how i wanted to do- but eventually it simply got too big and too complicated, and the kind of thing that has too many layers to be actually drawn and written into comics, aka another fail

So recently, exactly one year ago I think, i made a group chat with some friends, we decided on a basic plot and started to make our characters, and the process of roleplaying them quickly turned into a full blown story with arcs, timeskips and a lot of character development- and that much of information made me feel confident enough to start making comics again, because i knew the characters and knew the world. Though now i try to do scripts of the chapters and thumbnails, i have a lot of "support" material and basically the whole story- so yeah, id say drawing while still writing the plot isnt thw best for me. I just couldn't get attached before!

[punkarsenic]

i tend to let mine stew for at least a year, building the world and plot in my head. i build in scenes, and string em together later. honestly, just going with a story without that year or so of planning is really scary to me. i tried doing that with my first webcomic, so excited to find tapastic and finally have a platform, and i was left really confused and anxious about it, scrapping it in the end.

when writing the plot, i have a timeline, then i take it chapter by chapter figuring out wtf actually happens between events, and how the events themselves happen. i write it out in prose first, then convert it into a script with page sketches, then finally i draw it, a good few months after writing the original chapter. it helps to have a backlog of written chapters. i wish i did.

but yeah, you need to know a story before you turn it into a webcomic - it's a lot of work, and once its out there its a little harder to just drop - so you dont wanna get a few chapters in and realise you dont actually like it or know where its going

[efdvorsky]

For Cosmic Fish, I have sticky notes latched on my wall, sketchbooks, OCT entries, RPs test-runs, etc, and I have been working on this story for a long time so I'm more or less set of where I want the plot to go. I have the ending planned, but I can't tell you how many chapters the story is going to be. Mainly because sometimes I can do last-minute editing of removing a whole chapter or introducing a concept sooner/later. I know where I'm going but I can't tell how long.

I had tried organizing documents before that and had at least 13 chapters before it became such a checklist concept I was stressing out and losin my fun. For me, at least, if I know what I want, I rather experiment and enjoy the journey. So those bits in between are still an "in progress" concept I suppose!