When starting a comic, Just Start Drawing or Plan it Out?

[daeofthepast]

I'm hoping to start my first comic, for fun mostly and to have something on the side that I'm not being told what to draw or how(too much).

Would you guys recommend that I just start drawing it out or should I have some stuff planned out?? I've seen some suggested ways of structuring a story, but they kinda stress me out at the thought of it. Would it be fine to have no real "plan"?? Thanks in advance! :3

[gateofselidor]

How much planning you need to do will depend on the type of comic, but all comics benefit from at least a bit of planning.

For narrative comics, it's helpful to plan out the whole story in advance, or you run the risk of getting lost or writing yourself into a corner. It is stressful, but it's a lot less stressful than figuring it out as you go along (it might seem easier and fun at first, but it will get much harder the further you get).

For slice of life and gag comics with no overall plot and no specific end, you don't need to plan out everything in advance, but you'll still need to take time to work out characters, art and writing style, layout and so on.

[daeofthepast]

Thank you, I'll take this into consideration :3

I think I'd like to go with a narrative comic. Can you suggest any forum topics or just general tips on how to start structuring the story??

[Rueleer]

If you're going for a narrative driven story, at least some planning/outlining is better. However, I also believe that planning too much is a bad idea, since you may get caught up on details.

I personally plan wayy too much, because I hate plot holes, so I essentially outline my entire story beforehand. The downside was that I took ages to actually start drawing my comic, and I became quite frustrated with my slow progress.

My advice is to have a good grasp on the initial concept for your comic. Write a blurb for it that resonates with what you want it to be. This way, you don't have to plan too much, but you're also not completely blind as to where the comic may go.

Maybe try thinking of the beginning, ending and/or some significant events that you want to take place. Also, if you haven't full developed any characters yet, try imagining them in different situations and see if any ideas take hold.

Hope it helps!

[Herofeeder]

if im drawing on mediband or PS
i just start drawing...i know it will get to bite me in the ... one day but my drawings are very simple so i dont bother with the planning.i just go with the flow

[punkarsenic]

especially as its your first comic, definitely plan it out first. know where youre going, how youre getting there, at least vaguely.

id suggest really just writing out your story like you would a fic - no need at this point to worry abt grammar or anything - so you know whats happening, then start drawing. this makes the drawing process that much easier because you know where youre going.

[zetina]

You need your protagonist, conflict and ending. If you can figure those out, you will at least end up with a story that has a point even if it'll probably have weird pacing and some plot holes. People are willing to overlook a lot if a work is entertaining (not in reviews tho hah).

[kencoon7]

There is a lot of help on youtube by Jazza Studios and Mark Crilley. Mark has some full length comics out and a few books and he has put a lot of it on there.
That is where I am getting a lot of my instruction.
Almost forgot, There are a lot more videos on there too that deal with making comics.

[serverpanda]

I'm going to hop on the plan bandwagon. I tried not planning my first comic. :'D It ended up going everywhere, I wrote myself into a hole I couldn't get out of and had to end it when I realized I would never reach the ending I had in mind in the first place. Please don't be like me. <3 It was a horrible waste of time and art resources and I wish I had done it right the first time haha!

[spadesart]

If it's longform with a plot I super super recommend planning it and writing an outline or at least a dialogue script so you're not going in blind. Gag a day comics you could probably do blind though.

[shazzbaa]

Yeah, if you want a story comic and don't want to plan anything, you're very likely to end up with a comic that fails to get to the ending unless you're VERY dedicated and in love with that comic.

That's not necessarily the end of the world; you can still learn a lot from that and apply it to your next work and have an idea of what you need, but it's gonna be a much more satisfying feeling to actually finish a comic and apply what you learned to your next one.

I agree with @zetina -- you don't need the Full Story Planned Out, but you do need to know kinda what the basic deal of your story is and know where that story is going.
I'll tend to make a list of basic beats that I know of my story, complete with points like "they decide to travel together for some reason???? (figure this out)" and "SOMEHOW BAD GUY FINDS THEM, SHOWDOWN HAPPENS." I think it's okay for your outline to have stuff like that when you start your story!

(I'm sure there have been topics about this but all I can dig up are about different scripting methods, so if you have any specific questions about putting together a rough plan for a story feel free to ask! ;u; )

[shaneoid77]

I took a little different path. I drew some scenes I definitely knew would be going in the comic, one specific scene was three of my characters descending in to a crowd of adoring fans, which ended up being page 10 in Issue 2. Then I planned the story to go around it.

Personally I keep things ambiguous with plots and scripts as you can alter them accordingly later. I think cracking on with some art is important or you could find yourself stuck in creative hell Plus you never know, as you advance you could come up with better ideas, I know I have.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

[daeofthepast]

@rueleer Ooh, I didn't know there was such a thing as over planning. Good to know! :0

I have my beginning for sure and a possible ending; however, I don't have any middle points/scenes. Any suggestions on what kind of stuff I can have for those??

@punkarsenic Yeah, writing some parts of it out beforehand might help!

@zetina I don't know too much about stories in like what counts as a conflict. What I've figured so far is: the protagonist is going to be tasked with protecting and keeping on eye on the other main character. They have to fight off some people while at the same time they're trying to figure out why their charge is being targeted(though that's not part of their task just something they want to know).

Out of this summary, what part would be considered a conflict??

@kencoon7 Thank you for the suggestions!! I'll try them out when I get home! :3

@serverpanda Oh no, I hope you'll do better with your future comics!! We can learn together! ;3

@stnmaren That sounds like the route I'll be going. Outline or dialogue script, should I do both or is just one sufficient??

@shazzbaa It seems like I'll be making an outline at least. Any suggestions for an outline of the outline(lmao)??

@shaneoid77 Ooh, kinda like a visual outline?? Maybe I could try that, thanks!!

Thanks guys for all the advice.

Maybe it'll help once I have some sort of outline/script, but any advice for pacing in general?? I've heard that the story can at times go too fast or too slow. What do you do when that happens??

[spadesart]

Currently for my comic I'm using both an outline that uses bulleted lists of content for my chapters (character actions, important lines, quick setting descriptions, etc) AND a dialogue script. It helps so so much and I've made it to 47 pages now using that as opposed to the 15 my old comics would always stop and get stuck at when I went in blind.

[daeofthepast]

Ooh, would you be willing to show examples of your outline and script?? Mostly the script, I have no idea how those really work and could use more guidance on how to do them :0

[shaneoid77]

@shaneoid77 Ooh, kinda like a visual outline?? Maybe I could try that, thanks!!

Actually I meant a complete finished panel or page. I do some art that I hope my readers will find aesthetically pleasing and I really want to publish. The drive to publish that work helps motivate me to do the rest of the comic. Of course, I'm doing a Superhero comic where some panels are going to include some outlandish art (not sure what type of comic you'll be doing), and it means you're doing the comic out of synch. Not sure if that's how you work.

But you know you'll, at some point, have your characters standing around talking, maybe you're aware of a scene you'll be doing where someone gets punched, or receives flowers, or even suddenly transforms in to a giant monster, so you can do these pivotal scenes and build up around them.

Personally I think scripting is ok if you're working with others on a project, but if you're just doing things yourself, you can maybe script a pivotal scene and keep things ambiguous and creative in between on how you get to those scenes. Of course, this all comes down to the different ways we work, I wish you all the success with your endeavours!

[Devika]

Full disclosure: I'm still writing the script for my comic, I haven't actually drawn any actual pages yet. I think I can help you a little on structure though.

I suggest you have look at three act structure (sometimes also called four act structure), and get familiar with the Inciting Incident, First and Second Plot Points, Midpoint twist, Pinch Points etc. Even if you end up not using a three act structure for your story, you'll at the very least gain insight into one of the most commonly used storytelling structures in western media and have more tools at your disposal for writing your comic. I first read about it on the blog Helping writers become authors.

What I'm doing for my longform comic is deciding on the major points (the above mentioned plot points etc.) from beginning until the end, so I have a clue of what end I'm aiming for and also have guideposts along the way. My thinking is that I can only build up towards something if I know what that "something" is. BUT I'm also leaving gaps between these points, and I plan to write chapter by chapter after that, so that I can give the characters room to grow naturally, so to say. I come from an online roleplaying background, and the fun there was in seeing and feeling the characters grow as you go.

If anyone here uses some other way to structure their plot, which might be more suited for (web)comics, please do correct me!

[SpavVy]

It's good to plan ahead if it's a story.
I had 50+ pages already thumbnailed when I began to reboot mine and I wrote drafts for at least 10 chapters in a notebook.
I had to reboot it about a year ago (?) because I didn't plan ahead and before I knew it I wanted to make all kinds of changes.

So my advice is I think you should plan ahead, yes it's boring and a pain at times, but the results are very satisfying.

[joannekwan]

Yes, PLAN! You'll thank yourself later!

You don't need to get into nitty gritties, have a general outline at least. Write dialogue for key scenes, have a strang beginning, because you can still plan and rewrite things later in the story as you start drawing and get through the introduction.

[sarrowsmith10]

Yes, PLAN! You'll thank yourself later!

You don't need to get into nitty gritties, have a general outline at least. Write dialogue for key scenes, have a strang beginning, because you can still plan and rewrite things later in the story as you start drawing and get through the introduction.

This!! ^^^^

If its a narrative comic definitely absolutely plan out your story. You wouldn't start filming a movie without a script would you? It's okay to make changes and divert as needed of course, but I've never read a comic that was made without a plan that has been good. Not a long form comic anyways. If you don't have a plan, you can't foreshadow things, you can't plant early symbolism, you risk not giving the right information early enough to explain motives (which leads to excessive flashbacks that have the potential to bog your story down) and so forth.

I'm always surprised by the number of new creators that jump into long form comics without any experience. I can see why you are dreading planning. It's like hiking Mt Everest before even trying to hike your local hill. Maybe take your ideas and try a short story. Even if that short story can be left open for more, it would be good to make sure you can put a coherent story together with a beginning, middle and end. Introduction, Buildup, Climax and Resolution. It's okay to do a short story, then launch into something more episodic from there. Don't think of it as a waste of time or anything like that.

Good luck! If you need any specific feedback on your script or your storyboards/thumbnails or story plan, please send me a message. I'm happy to help.