Tips on how to organize chapters. How do you organize your story?

[Kimu]

Hello! I currently am working on my comic Pixel Cat The story of a quiet cat in a strange world. Adventure/Fantasy.

Before doing my comic, I like to write the general story till the ending and then concept art every character in the story.
After it, this is the way I organize my chapters.

Progress
-Quick thumbnails of every page in a chapter. (stick figures just to check the character positions)
-Organize the text in them and check if panels are clear and easy to follow.
-Start cleaning and inking the page.
-Post when completed.
-Continue with next page.
-When Chapter is completed. Repeat this order with the new Chapter.

Would this be a clean organize form for my story? Would there be a better way to organize?
How do you organize your story ? Would love to hear your progress!

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

I like to keep things kind of loose. It allows for scenes to evolve more naturally. However I do at least have some sort of structural back-bone to keep me on track.

-1. Make a flow-chart of events.

-2. Thumbnail sketch the page.

-3. Sketch the page and ink.

-4. Flat color.

-5. Shade and add ambient light.

-6. Add text.

-7. Wash, rinse and repeat 2-6 until the issue's done.

[Kimu]

Ohh the the flow-chart is a very nice way of organization! : D

That's a nice way of progress! Do you write the story prior to doing the thumbnail or just let it flow as you mention?

I do have found that after I write stories when I do the thumbnail I find it that I change scenes to something that I find
more comfortable with the event.

[respheal]

That sounds like a reasonable way of doing things to me. My way is rather hair-brained in comparison.
I've got most of the story (like 80% of it) written out in novel format, so my process is:

• Script out chapter with dialogue and actions + important background details or props
• Divide script up into pages
• Plop text in blank page, work out flow and how many panels needed
• Thumbnail out a few pages at a time
  And then one page at a time:
• Lineart
• Flats
• Shading
• Background
• Light and Effects
• Speech Bubbles (under the text put there earlier)
• Final checks

I don't like working on a page, or even a chapter, without knowing most of the story after it because I really don't want to get caught in a situation where I have to retcon things.

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

I don't really write down much. I tried writing a script once, but it was just too constricting. So, I just let things flow how they'll flow while using the points in the flow-chart as guidelines so I don't meander.

[Kimu]

Ohh that's very nice to write down important background details!

I do understand the story thing! I personally feel nervous doing pages without writing the whole story first.

Though it could be interesting going with the flow in a story. I think it would be important more than all to know the characters
and how they would interact in a situation. Also to have the most important event you want to portray in the chapter drive you forward.

I do have find that sometimes I written stuff down and when I draw it, the characters personality completely changed my story's
writing to what they want to actually do. It's pretty interesting X,D I'm not sure if it happen to others.

[respheal]

I do have find that sometimes I written stuff down and when I draw it, the characters personality completely changed my story's writing to what they want to actually do. It's pretty interesting X,D I'm not sure if it happen to others.

Oh absolutely, that's the best part! I got a good long way through writing this story when someone made a comment about the main character's personality like, "I know you say he's this, but I get the feeling from the story that he's more like this", which made me re-evaluate how I was writing him. Holy wow it made a world of difference and deepened his personality tremendously, and made it easier to write him because it felt like I wasn't fighting against him. So yeah, it's a good idea to not limit yourself to how you think the story should be written, because your subconscious might have better ideas than you do.

All in all, people have different methods for writing. Over in the NaNoWriMo forums, the terms are plotters--those who outline--and pansters--those who write "by the seat of their pants". Both are completely valid, I just find that with this story in particular it's easier on me to plot than pants.

[Kimu]

Oh absolutely, that's the best part! I got a good long way through writing this story when someone made a comment about the main character's personality like, "I know you say he's this, but I get the feeling from the story that he's more like this", which made me re-evaluate how I was writing him. Holy wow it made a world of difference and deepened his personality tremendously, and made it easier to write him because it felt like I wasn't fighting against him. So yeah, it's a good idea to not limit yourself to how you think the story should be written, because your subconscious might have better ideas than you do.

All in all, people have different methods for writing. Over in the NaNoWriMo forums, the terms are plotters--those who outline--and pansters--those who write "by the seat of their pants". Both are completely valid, I just find that with this story in particular it's easier on me to plot than pants.

Ohh that's pretty amazing! : D I love also how commenters also help with the story and just make you realize things one don't
notice before. I will also keep this in mind, for how the story should run and how the story runs because of the characters actions.
They are alive in their stories after all : D

Thank you so much for your insight!

[spadesart]

copypasting from another reply,

My current comic just made it to 78 pages, here's what I've been doing

• keep an outline, make one section at the top detailing the MOST
  IMPORTANT PLOT POINTS, like the big ones you see in your head when
  you picture it

• if it's done in segments or chapters, then start outlining those in
  more detail, put down what the scenery and location are, important
  dialogue to remember, character actions, just the flow of the story
  in general. i use bulleted lists. and remember: you are ALWAYS able
  to edit and change this as you see fit, don't be scared of it feeling
  like you're stuck in whatever you first write down. i've made tons of
  last minute changes in my comic after i've outlined it, the original
  huntec scene in chapter 2 was supposed to have my character william
  meet the rest of the characters immediately after they entered the
  building and extending the scene made it 100x better imo

• after outlining move to the script, this just includes all the
  dialogue in the chapter so you don't forget anything important, it
  really really helps trust me. you can also add/edit/change this
  whenever you want.

• start drawing the chapter, it should be 10x easier now that you have a
  guideline for it

helped me go from quitting after 15 pages to making it as far as I have

ive been like....kind of thumbnailing scenes for my comic at work on reciept paper just for reference but w/o my script theyre probably really not matching up too well. i have about 23 of these that i've done

[Kimu]

copypasting from another reply,

My current comic just made it to 78 pages, here's what I've been doing

keep an outline, make one section at the top detailing the MOSTIMPORTANT PLOT POINTS, like the big ones you see in your head whenyou picture it
if it's done in segments or chapters, then start outlining those inmore detail, put down what the scenery and location are, important dialogue to remember, character actions, just the flow of the storyin general. i use bulleted lists. and remember: you are ALWAYS ableto edit and change this as you see fit, don't be scared of it feelinglike you're stuck in whatever you first write down. i've made tons oflast minute changes in my comic after i've outlined it, the original huntec scene in chapter 2 was supposed to have my character williammeet the rest of the characters immediately after they entered the building and extending the scene made it 100x better imo
after outlining move to the script, this just includes all the dialogue in the chapter so you don't forget anything important, it really really helps trust me. you can also add/edit/change this whenever you want.
start drawing the chapter, it should be 10x easier now that you have a guideline for it

helped me go from quitting after 15 pages to making it as far as I have

ive been like....kind of thumbnailing scenes for my comic at work on reciept paper just for reference but w/o my script theyre probably really not matching up too well. i have about 23 of these that i've done

Ohh!! That's really nice way of organizing a story!

I also seen people doing bubbles of important events in their stories and just numbering them for reference! I definitely think that if you have an important scene in your head that you imagine over and over that it should be consider carefully on how it would be introduce in a chapter.

It's true to not get chain in written scripts but change them if you see a better way to pace a story!
I do believe that if you thumbnail and you can understand what's happening in the story without adding the script yet that it makes for a
clearer story, so what you do with the receipts is also very clever and time saving! Thank you so much for your insight too! : D It's very helpful!

[Zetsubonii]

This is what I do for my series, Jim's Days:
-Research
-Jot down note on the major events in the story, rise, climax and all
-Determine the time span for all of this
-Add more details to the respective notes, like the actual story
-Research
-Break down the notes into the main events of each chapter, which in turn determines how many chapter's you'll need (I estimate mine to have around 30ish from this)
-Illustrate the characters and setting of the story
-Visualize the chapter and make a storyboard illustrating the events of your notes on a page
-Edit and reorganize the storyboard to your liking
-Make the comic :U

I find that making a story linear is kind of dull, I like to and plan on mixing and matching between certain time periods to deepen my story a bit, given that mine has to do with time travel and what not :U Also, other things to consider is that, from my own research:

-An arc for a mainstream manga series is normally 3-5 chapters long (a volume size) While western comics are more unpredictable spaning 10 chapters to an x amount without counting the tie-in comics
-Manga tends to be 25-45 pages per chapter while a western comic tends to be 20-30 pages
-Chapters follow the intro-rise-climax-falling-conclusion/twist formula while still keeping in line with the respective intro-rise-climax-falling-conclusion/twist formula of the over all story

And yeah :U Basically, I start from the bigger picture because this way, I feel, makes the story more consistent? :U

[Kimu]

Ohh that's really nice way to organize!! Being able to determine the span for chapter is a very good thing! I usually know how long the chapter is when I finish the thumbnails of the pages. Research is something that sometimes passes by me but it's probably the most important thing to do in a comics creation! Always that last important line Editing and reorganizing always can pop up with better ideas than one would have thought XD and I think an even bigger important one is making the comic as you said!

That must be a bit harsh, researching so many time periods I admire your determination! Thank you so much for the manga and western comic pages information, I never knew! It's pretty interesting to start from the bigger picture. I seem to be a slower pace kind of person but I will experiment with what you written here! It's very helpful to know your progress, thank you so much! : D

[Mharz]

For me, I breakdown the storyline in Volumes. 5 Chapters -> 1 Volume. I plan out and finish the entire volume first before proceeding to the next one.

So what I do is first write down the story. I'm not much of an adept writer (which is why I can't be a novelist) so I just write it down however way I know how. I don't really write in script format but rather write in narrative because I can't think of pagination and panelling right away because my brain overloads a lot. Also writing in narrative makes me open for whatever changes in the plot that I will think in the last minute.

Here's how I normally do it.

1. Write the story for the next 5 chapters
2. Revisions
3. Do a storyboard/thumbnail
4. Draw the pages
5. Rinse and repeat every volume.

[Zetsubonii]

Don't worry about it, I've been researching this stuff since I was in highschool back in 2010 (holy shit, I'm old ._.) but yeah xD Progress won't be fast, sure, but it will really be worth it In fact, Jim's Days was an idea that started development in 2012, and I only started to post it last year, but I already have the story laid out all the way to the ending

[Kimu]

For me, I breakdown the storyline in Volumes. 5 Chapters -> 1 Volume. I plan out and finish the entire volume first before proceeding to the next one.

So what I do is first write down the story. I'm not much of an adept writer (which is why I can't be a novelist) so I just write it down however way I know how. I don't really write in script format but rather write in narrative because I can't think of pagination and panelling right away because my brain overloads a lot. Also writing in narrative makes me open for whatever changes in the plot that I will think in the last minute.

Here's how I normally do it.

1. Write the story for the next 5 chapters
2. Revisions
3. Do a storyboard/thumbnail
4. Draw the pages
5. Rinse and repeat every volume.

Ohh that's pretty nice! I think when you have most of the story it could really help in the long run. Dividing in volumes is a pretty interesting way of doing it. It's pretty good to write narratives it does clear out what the character is saying or doing for when the thumbnail part comes in. Maybe even speeds up the thumbnailing progress. I will keep that in mind! : > Thank you!

[Kimu]

Ohh wow! That's pretty cool! : D but now it is all worth it! May you always have fun while you are working on your story!

[Ambat]

I actually found this program recently called yWriter5 that's basically a huge organizational tool for the writing/information of your stories--I REALLY am enjoying it because it's helping me keep track of information that I need way later down the line but still needs to be implied and considered in the earlier chapters. You can organize things by chapter, by scene, you can have character profiles, etc. It might not be the best tool for everyone's purposes but for me, there's a lot of information and overlapping story stuff in my comic and it really helps me keep track when I have it all written down in one organized place.

When I'm working on my thumbnailing, I usually just have a very simple script of dialogue and basic/important actions that I've written from my overall story outline, and use that to move forward.

As for the visuals, I tend to do all of my thumbnails one scene at a time. I like to see a full thumbnailed version of the scene I'm working on before I sit down and commit to polishing any of the pages because I don't want to end up in a situation where my pacing/timing is off but I've already worked on polished pages and it's too late to fix it.

[Kimu]

I actually found this program recently called yWriter5 that's basically a huge organizational tool for the writing/information of your stories--I REALLY am enjoying it because it's helping me keep track of information that I need way later down the line but still needs to be implied and considered in the earlier chapters. You can organize things by chapter, by scene, you can have character profiles, etc. It might not be the best tool for everyone's purposes but for me, there's a lot of information and overlapping story stuff in my comic and it really helps me keep track when I have it all written down in one organized place.

When I'm working on my thumbnailing, I usually just have a very simple script of dialogue and basic/important actions that I've written from my overall story outline, and use that to move forward.

As for the visuals, I tend to do all of my thumbnails one scene at a time. I like to see a full thumbnailed version of the scene I'm working on before I sit down and commit to polishing any of the pages because I don't want to end up in a situation where my pacing/timing is off but I've already worked on polished pages and it's too late to fix it.

Ohh, I will have to check that program out. I really do like organizing my stuff in photoshop since I'm very visual but a specific program for story writing is very good to have!

Oh I should mention I do use a program to organize my characters is called "Character Planner" for android and I think for IOS too. You can keep your characters information organize there and even export it out, It's super helpful and easy to use.

Your way of organization and pacing is very good! : D Thank you also for mentioning the program, super helpful to know!

[punkarsenic]

i have more experience in writing prose, so i start with writing my chapter as a novelization - it helps to get down emotions and scenery indepth. however, before that, i create timelines and bulletpoint important events in the greater story, and in the scene (usually the scene takes its own path, though, and can end up being more important than i was expecting)

from that, sometimes i re-script for comic, sometimes i go straight to thumbnailing - it depends on how much i want to change the text to fit a comic format. sometimes i cut entire scenes from the book and add totally new ones into the comic, sometimes its word for word the same.

but either way, once ive got my script/book sorted, i thumbnail pages, noting down the action in detail into a final script that i keep with me, along with the thumbnails, when drawing the actual pages.

[Kimu]

i have more experience in writing prose, so i start with writing my chapter as a novelization - it helps to get down emotions and scenery indepth. however, before that, i create timelines and bulletpoint important events in the greater story, and in the scene (usually the scene takes its own path, though, and can end up being more important than i was expecting)

from that, sometimes i re-script for comic, sometimes i go straight to thumbnailing - it depends on how much i want to change the text to fit a comic format. sometimes i cut entire scenes from the book and add totally new ones into the comic, sometimes its word for word the same.

but either way, once ive got my script/book sorted, i thumbnail pages, noting down the action in detail into a final script that i keep with me, along with the thumbnails, when drawing the actual pages.

Ohh nice! In proses can really put things straight to the point! The timeline and bulletpoints is an interesting way of also doing a chapter! I think I would write bullets in each timeline for the organization of the time.

It's sometimes hard to cut whole scenes from a story while one is writing but I found that what is replace is greater than the one before.
Pretty clean way of doing your stories! : D Thank you for sharing your organization!