Whats your process for story ideas/story creation?

[Teira]

This can go for both comic artists and novelists.

Do you start with an outline and just write out random ideas or dialouge? Do you make a script?

For comic artists, do you sketch out the characters first and then start writing?

For me, I start writing up a script and then doing character sketches along the way. Then I get one of those cheap, marble notebooks and start sketching the pages and adding the dialog there. I also write little character bios on my phone.

I'm curious to see how others do things.

[arxianfall]

A scene or a moment pops in my head. Sometimes I dream the whole goddamn story. I write it down randomly to remember it.

After that I make a bullet point timeline and the lore just explodes from there.

Finally if I'm going to pursue it, I make a "design document" that has all materials, plot points lore and rules.

So I always know what happens, where it ends and I can use it to check any continuity and rules. Because trust me, you'll forget even basic things like a character's hair color.

[xstarx07]

Well, my method is a little less organized ^^"
I've only started rebooting my project after abandoning it for 5 years, but here's my process:

• I start off by noting down which important plot points I have to execute
• then I look what I can implement between those, like little character arcs or details that I need to implement by hinting towards something
• after that, I usually ask my beta-reader if a portion I choose from what I wrote is enough for one chapter and how much episodes/scenes I can put into it, to start with the next
• I usually create the dialogue while sketching the chapter
• following that, I again go to my beta-reader to check the flow for reading, if the story's too fast or slow or if something's wrong with the art or dialogue
• and finally, if that's all done, I start with lineart, colors, backgrounds and all the other stuff until it's done and schedule the finished episode

I already made some character sheets and lore documents between the years of this reboot and the original (which was crappy, I can't get over how bad the art looks and how cringy my writing was), so I think I made myself some helpful tools for what I'm doing right now and planning for the future :3

[jcmraz]

I start with idea generation. I write everything I think might be cool and then when I'm trying to come up with something I put more concerted effort in putting those ideas to work and considering them. Just write down everything you think of. Most will be discarded but you'll find some things that work together as you put thought into it over time

[GumshoeComix]

Concept sketches
Scripting
More sketches
Thumbnailing
Pages/final
Rinse repeat

Takes about a month with breaks typically

Somewhere along the line I decided to do more scripting than anything so I'm way ahead on that

[Aleksei]

It depends on the inspiration, I think.
It can be a song, an scene, a character, etc. For the thing that I am doing right now it was a concept, and I started building around that concept. What could happen, what should not happen, etc. Then I saw the common points and developed some characters for those stories. Later I saw how those characters personalities would affect the overall idea already thought, and make it beleivable.
Finally, when the thing took shape in my mind, I wrote the big arcs in one paragraph. Later in an excel I divided those paragraphs in chapters, later I revised the excel to add a better flow to the whole thing, and lastly I wrotte a word file with one chapter, dividing every page in a couple of sentences, sometimes with script, or just the idea, with locations characters and everything else that can be useful. Just then I started the comic. That for the script, the drawing have a whole other process xD

For drawing, I use to check other peoples works, search images on google for reference, and once I settle on style and overall characters concept, I start practicing a bit until I feel confortable drawing the charas. It doesn't matter though, as I learned very quick that once your start working on your comic, your hand learn new tricks on the way and in just a couple of chapters your style will improve and your old chapters will look cheap compared with your last piece. I resist the urge to draw everything again xD

Also I learned that once I start making a chapter, I must change some things depending on if the scene feels real, and go back to the excel or word to add the new information. As the process is fluid, and the grounds are solid, I can make those changes without affecting the overall work.

[BarBarKetrab]

I used to write scripts, but I got bored of it after a while (for better or worse, I don't know).

When it comes to story/scene creation, I usually think up a few different ways to convey the same scenario. Then, while pacing back and forth in my house or outside, I gradually filter out the scenarios that wouldn't be suitable while adding on to the ones that would be. When I get a complete scenario is completely random. After the initial idea, it may take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days for me to settle on something concrete.

Although I have stopped writing scripts, I still do write summaries and or synopsises. They help quite a lot.

When it comes to designing characters, I just draw the character over and over again while gradually changing things about them until they look just about right. Then I include little bits of information about them alongside the drawings. The rest I do in my head.

When I get around to making the pages, my process looks like this:

1. Panel layout (honestly the hardest step of them all for me)
2. Scribble sketches
3. Line art
4. Colour
5. Dialogue and sound effects

I draw my comic in a more simple, cartoony art style, so one page takes me around an hour and a half to two hours to make (depending on complexity and number of panels)

I sort of create specific details in the story as it goes. I don't want to be constrained by anything so I prefer to plan those specific details more loosely so I can change anything quickly if I don't like it. Also, if I already know the whole story before it begins, then I'll probably get bored of creating it over time compared to if it's just as much of a mystery to me as it is to my (as of now non-existent) audience.

[crowstories]

My story ideas usually start as more of a concept than an actual story, and I have a running list of ideas to tackle in the future (otherwise every project is instantly derailed by the next idea that pops into my head), usually consisting of either a few rambling paragraphs of a bulleted list for each idea.

Once I've had a chance to marinate on the concept for a bit, I'll expand the basic idea into an outline with an actual plot, as well as a list of the main characters. They often don't get names immediately, and at this stage their appearance is rarely relevant to me -- it's mostly just their role in the story, and maybe some other character traits if those happen to present themselves.

I'm pretty much always working on another project, so things tend to sit at this stage for a while, in some cases years. The more I care about an idea the more reluctant I am to move from the planning stage to the actual doing stage. But with the idea kicking around in my head, I'll periodically come back to it and rework certain plot points/jot down snippets of dialogue that come to me/start fleshing out characters more. This makes it pretty easy to start the actual writing once I'm ready to begin the new project. Usually the hardest part is NOT beginning a new project until I'm done with the last one.

I do some writing and some visual media (was previously making video games) so when there is a visual component, the character design happens around the time I start the actual writing process, after I've had months or years to get to know the characters.

[therosesword]

I don't have a process. I'm a complete pantser, everything on here has been written that way.

A Mad Hatter presents himself and offers me a ticket to go down his rabbit hole. I do. If I don't like it I back out and wait for the next Mad Hatter. If I like his rabbit hole we're down for the chase to find out what happens next.

I do make notes now and then, after all, when you're doing something and an idea presents itself you know you'll forget it if you don't make a note. Also if something is a little complicated (like my Bright Morn series that I never meant to turn into a series) I will make notes to refer back on so I don't leave loose ends. But that's all after the fact.

Some times Mad Hatter gives me the key to the ending of a story and makes me figure out how to get there.

I don't worry about trends or tropes or any of that. Sometimes I write a scene and later, much much later, go back and change it. that's why I never put up anything that isn't complete.

This is the way that works for me. It's neither right nor wrong, it's just how I work.

[Crusoe]

I usually not down my primary plotpoints and fill out the rest while I write the story. When I get a good idea for events within the story I jot them down in my notes document sorta on chronology of the story, but it's messy as hell

[ninjashira]

When I come up with a story idea, I usually just sit down and type up all of my ideas in one big word vomit of a document, not paying attention to story structure or pacing or continuity or anything like that. I'll leave notes to myself as I write, like, "This part doesn't make any sense - figure out how he got his hands on this thing in the first place," but then just keep writing as though I already solved that problem. That way I don't get too hung up on the particulars while I'm just focused on getting my ideas out.

After that, I'll go back and refine it and figure out certain plot elements the story may be missing. I'll usually go through a lot of revisions and editing passes before getting it right. For a lot of things, I'll leave it alone for a few months, then go back to it and reread it with fresh eyes and make note of all the things that need to change now that I haven't been looking at it every day.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, I'll design some characters, usually before I get to the dialogue bits, but not always. It can help me nail down a character's voice and personality in the writing if I know what they look like and what their body language is like.

I never really write myself a formal script. Instead, I just take my refined word vomit document and rewrite it as a series of actions and dialogue. It's sort of somewhere between a script and an outline. Once I get that the way I like it, I'll start with the actual drawing part of things. Thumbnails first! I'll usually thumbnail a huge chunk of pages all in one go, because seeing the pages like that really helps me work out the pacing. After re-reading my thumbnails a few times, I'll find pages that need to be split up into multiple pages, or scenes that looked fine in the outline but need some tweaking on the page.

After the thumbnails are good, then I'll actually start drawing.

[FancyDreamer]

Most of my story ideas come from my dreams. I actually keep a notebook by my bedside and when I wake up from a dream the first thing I do is write down everything I can remember before it's all gone. Then, I start working on the story and filling in the gaps that my dreams left. Sometimes I get a second dream that I can add on to another. Occasionally, I get an idea for a story while I'm awake, so I'll jot it down in the note section on my phone and then transfer it to my the notebook by my bed.

[nellie_warren]

When it came to my comic, it went a bit like this:

• I had the idea and thought about it for a little while before writing anything down, so I could decide if this was something I wanted to commit to.
• I wrote out the characters that would be necessary and the skeleton of the plot
• I designed the characters, including their motivations and arcs and appearance.
• I fleshed out the plot and decided on an ending, which I always try to do before starting anything, even if the ending changes later on.
• I made thumbnails for the pages while further expanding on the script, including dialogue and specific imagery I wanted to convey, as well as emotional beats and turns in the plot.
• I decided on a colour palette and art style.
• I started making pages.

That all sounds super detailed and intense, I know, but I also allowed myself to be fairly loose in a few areas. I only decided on a title when I had about twenty pages done, and large plot points changed after I started posting. The ending completely changed at one point, and I continued to understand the main character a lot more as I continued making pages. I also had no idea how long it would be. I thought maybe a hundred pages, and now I'm over 200 pages in and just about halfway through the story.
Here's the comic in question!

To the Touch | Tapas

[cyborgmermaid]

My ideas for my novel come from daydreaming or movies/music that inspires me. I tend to write dialogue and and descriptive action first, like a script. Then I go back and fill in the rest.

[TheGentleArtist]

Either characters first then script or the other way around. Though the script just pops up and I just run with it.

[TedGravesArt]

Savina and Nira came first, then the story evolved around them, then other characters entered the story and had to be designed. Starting with general universe stuff helped, then went to script. Everything kind of evolves at the same time in my process tbh.

[cherrystark]

I am a pantser like @therosesword. When I get an idea, I get my thoughts in order and just start writing. Sometimes I do have to step away from my keyboard to organize my thoughts for a new scene, but, overall, it's been a fun process just finding out with my characters what's happening next in the story.

Pantsing has also helped me out a lot developing my characters. They grow with each scene and with each story. My characters aren't the same creations they were when I started making notes a couple of years ago.

[therosesword]

I've had a reader remark on the growth of Bright Morn and to tell you truthfully, I hadn't even noticed it! Pretty wild working this way.

[Kaydreamer]

I daydream a few different scenes, then write down ideas and character dialogue snippets from those scenes in whatever order I'm most inspired to write them. I can spend a few months doing this, or several years depending on the size of the story.

Then, I'll go along and string together those scenes into a more coherent plot. That's the challenging part for me!

As for world building, I've been at that for over a decade and have one fantasy universe I base everything I write in... It's been so long that I don't remember the process, beyond absorbing a huge range of influences, mixing them into story-soup, and letting that universe slowly simmer into a unique form. Also, lots of long baths where I just work through contradictions and gaps in the lore, so everything makes sense.

[iHateFridays]

Idk, usually an idea will just randomly hit me, and if I like it enough I'll write down a plot summary for it. Then if I really like it, I'll develop it further.