To those publishing comics here already, how do you plan for your comics?

[nikkicartoons]

Hello, everyone!

While I am not foreign to the Tapastic site and the many amazing comics it holds, I am very dumb when it comes to translating an idea I have to a comic format. I just recently decided that I want to create a comic for an idea I have been working on for the past couple of months, but since I've been so focused on learning more about animation, I've been negligent to the concept of comic making and how to plan them. Although I assume that it's not as hard as I'm making it out to be (still must be a real struggle to create, though), I was wondering, for anybody creating any comics on Tapastic, how did you approach your project, and how did you plan it? Do you have several documents specifically for the idea, or do you just wing it? Are your character interactions/dialogue planned, or do they come as you go? What is your way of planning a comic?

I'm sorry if this is a very stupid question- I've just never really created a comic before, but with my rekindled passion for comic books/web comics/etc., I really want to try and pursue something out of my comfort zone.

[shazzbaa]

My comic is story-based, so it started out with a basic outline of the story! I kept a notebook for a while where I'd jot down ideas (now I mostly save a bunch of Evernote notes on my computer), and once I kinda knew the things I wanted to happen, I'd start trying to figure out how the different events of the story would lead into each other, and try to write down a basic plotline. Eventually I had an outline with a pretty good idea of how the basic beats of the story would go.

So I do plan out my comic, but I don't plan every tiny detail from the beginning. Like, I've had a rough outline for Chapter Four for a little while, but while I was finishing up Chapter 3 I started actually figuring out what would happen on each page, and planning exactly how the characters would play off of each other and writing a working draft of the things they would say.
Working this way means that I know the basics of what will happen for the whole story, but the details and exactly how those things will happen aren't set in stone until I start working on that piece of story. I can still look forward to figuring out the details of future chapters, I have some wiggle room to change stuff if I have new ideas, and I don't spend forever planning before I start..... but I'm less likely to write myself into a corner, and I can figure out how to hint at things that'll come up later, since I've also planned ahead.

(number four in this list has a quick run-down of my scripting process, if you're curious!)

While I worked on the script for Chapter Four, that's when I started planning the actual pages:

You can see the little rough scribbles of page layouts next to my script here -- this is where I'm figuring out how the panels will go on the page, and what dialogue or moment will go in each panel. It's a lot easier to rearrange panels until they look right when they're tiny scribbles than when you're trying to draw them on the finished page!

I wasn't sure whether you're looking more for advice on how to plan a story or how to plan a page -- so here's a little bit of both! I tried not to go on too long, so if there's anything more specific you wanna ask about, please feel free!!

[nikkicartoons]

Ahhh, this is very helpful!! Thank you for the advice on both page planning and story planning- I really appreciate it! ^^

[AnnaLandin]

Firstly - welcome to the wonderful world of comics! I hope you'll like it here. =)

My first bit of advice would be to make your first project a very short one - 10-30 pages long - so that you can get a feel for what it's like to make a comic, and see if you enjoy it or not. It's also nice to have a short, finished project under your belt before you take on something larger, because then you know what it feels like to finish a story! It's valuable knowledge.

My approach to planning comics differs a bit depending on whether it's a short comic or a very long one, but the basic building blocks are the same! I've got a load of different documents and notebooks and sketchbooks and whatnot, and working on my comics always means hunting all of them down - you could definitely be more organised than I am!

Step 1: Brainstorm
What kind of comic do you want to make? What kind of things would you like to put in it? This is the no-holds-barred, throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks step of creation. Really ponder what you'd like to do, and write down anything that sounds interesting! You've already got an idea, so you're fine.

Step 2: Outline.
Write a brief, summarised description of what happens in your story from start to finish. Try to avoid getting too detailed - you just want an overview of the story. This helps you get a grasp on what needs to happen in each part of the story, which makes the next step easier. Also, Knowing the big-picture version of your story and how it ends helps you avoid writing yourself into corners and having to re-write stuff.

Step 3: Page-breakdowns
When I'm working on a longer story, I take a chunk of the outline large enough to make a chapter - and if I'm working on a short story, the entire outline - and then start deciding what needs to happen on each page. The first five pages of my comic Grassblades broke down as follows:

Page 1: Main character walks through woods. (establish setting)
Page 2: He's startled by a bird, and spots something by the roadside.
Page 3: He goes to investigate.
Page 4: He finds a clearing full of dead bodies.
Page 5: He's surprise-attacked by a bandit

Step 4: Thumbnails
After the page-breakdowns are done, I take those and start translating them into thumbnails for each individual page - like the ones @shazzbaa posted; mine are very similar! The difference between her thumbnails and mine (I think?), is that I write my dialogue alongside my thumbnails; before this step in my process, I haven't got any written dialogue.

Planning my dialogue alongside what the pages will look like helps me avoid over-crowding each page with text, because I plan where the speechbubbles go at the same time as I plan what the panels will look like. So this, honestly, is the bit where I write the "script". I don't have a separate, text-only dialogue script; it all goes into the margin-notes of my thumbnails.

Step 5: Drawing the thing
Pretty self-explanatory. Once you've got all your planning lined up, all you have to do is translate those thumbnail-scribbles into actual, full-sized drawings!

[nikkicartoons]

I love how each of these are in steps! Thank you for answering- I'm glad to receive insight from those already published on this site!

[thomassayle]

When ever I have an idea for a story, I already have some sort of concept of design and story. But then I grab some paper to write and draw this out. Here I come up with the plot of of the story and the ending to which I work backwards to the making sure I have whats nessesary for the story to work and make sense. Aswell as giving me the shortest version to work with where I can add jokes, scenes what ever to extend it and improve it.

I've done the oppisote to you where I looked into animation first, and I would say that affects my decision on the comic. Meaning camera angles and composition is used in my comics, intention and not.

Next I make character designs and and concept art to get the style I want, then I decide what scene I want to do and draw it. I like to improvise while still having a goal I need to reach for each page or scene. So to end it I dont really plan a lot, but just enough.

[Shanny8]

Notes, notes, and more notes. Scribble out character/concept designs- take more notes. Start sifting through said notes to figure out a plot/design, and from there- start working on a loose script. Make sure sketches/designs are final enough to go with, and start laying out pages.

[punkarsenic]

for a longform comic, ill mull over the idea for a long time - at least a year - figuring out the details of the universe, plot, and characters. thats not even finished by the time i get writing, usually. ill write out a timeline first, with all the events i know are happening - its easy to find gaps to fill, then.

because im a writer, i usually start writing out my comic in prose, before converting that into comic form. it allows me to get all the ideas and emotions down. at the same time, id be drawing model sheets for my characters and visually developing the universe.

even long into the comic, ill be still figuring out the details and what happens next, between points A B C etc.

[Zazorealbiz]

First off. You have to have a general idea of what you want. start to finish. After that put it down in thumbnail form, but really rough. don't worry about angles and panels at this point. You can do a script too if your that kind of person.
Now look through that story you have and see if you can't make it better in any way possible. Leave it to sink in for a week or a month. Now start doing you main thumbnail story with text on the sides. I normally do two per page. Only create 10 thumbnail pages ahead. Your mind is ever growing so you might want to change stuff to a degree. change that on the rough thumbnail story. Then you are set to create your main page. Note: everybody does it their own way(A way they find it easy to control and produce a story)

[MissMagicGirl]

For my comic : https://tapastic.com/series/magicadvisor I planned it for about a year before I even started to draw it. I had not really made digital art before so I had a lot of practicing to do since I felt like that was the right style for my story. I used to do only ink drawing before I started to plan my comic. They where very time consuming and took about three month each.

I love that style but I felt like I needed to make my comic in a more colourful and happy style since it was a comedy. Also if each panel was going to take three month one page would take over a year to finish. So I started practising digital art. I think it was good because instead of just jumping into the story I had to plan it since I had so much art practise to do anyway ^^;

My first couple of pages for my comic took about half a year to get right. Now each episode of my comic is four - five pages and take about a month.
This was my first page:

When it comes to planning the story a lot of my plans changed after getting feedback from readers. First I uploaded my comic only in swedish at my swedish site before I started to translate it. I Have a bigger plan for my comic in my head and many ideas for storylines that I want to do. I write it all up in word documents and I try to make timelines and plan a head. But I also try listening to my readers. I think that is the great thing about making webcomics. That you can get feedback and see what the readers like. Sometimes that will change my plans and sometimes not. But its always great to listen to criticism and feedback to keep learning.

Now I plan abut a year a head for my comic but somethings can change over time. I feel like I write plenty of notes and timelines and plans all the time but they are all open to change. So I guess I am somewhere in between planning a head and "wing it" Hahah
Its an interesting thread to hear how everyone works. Thanks for making it

[Mharz]

I do something similar from animation productions.

First I outline the main plot points, Then I'll write the story (I normally do it in prose so that I won't get disrupted with the flow). After that, I do layouts/thumbnails for the page much similar to storyboarding. Then finalize the characters designs. (Pre-production)

Then drawing drawing the page itself. (Production)

Lastly finalizing the pages by editing and preparing it for print and online posting. (Post production)

Note: Character designs and storyboarding can interchange.

I do something in between planning and winging it because sometimes my brain will think of something better when I'm drawing the page already. I'm always open for flexibility and sudden changes.

Before I posted here on Tap, I built up my buffer first by creating chapters 1-5 for 1 whole year. I made sure I can upload 2 pages per week for over a year just in case I won't be able to work on it for a long time. I suggest building a buffer it really helps.

[conbon100101]

I plan my comics two very different ways.
For Facade, the writer and I collaborate ideas and he writes them out before we do anything. From there, I play with poses and start storyboarding. After that, I do rough sketches and lay the pages out in the final layout.
For Sinfully Yours, I plan things in my head then do a lot of pose layout. Finally I do super rough sketches and place it into how I want the layout to go. Much less formal about laying that one out. Instead, I enjoy planning it page by page and laughing maniacally when it comes out right.
Both ways are fun and both ways get the job right, the only thing I know I really work on the same for both, is to have a month to two months of buffer, just in case something crazy happens and I'm not able to work on them for a while.