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

Devika 2016-09-23 12:05:44 UTC #41

Glad I could help! And you have achieved a lot just by putting those three cornerstones down!

And remember that nothing is set in stone yet (; You can take your time to tweak and edit it as you come up with characters and the world around them, and feel what fits them and what doesn't. The first idea isn't always the best - sometimes it is, sometimes not.

As for the organization part, just to give you some ideas: I actually have the overarching plot/storyline in an excel document, horizontally the plot points, vertically I have rows for the description of the scene itself, what it leads to, etc. It doesn't have to be those things specifically, it's just what works for me. That way I can move things around fairly easily (like when I realize that a scene might not be a good pinch point but better placed elsewhere) and have a neat overview of the connections.

In the same document, on a different sheet, I have another grid: Horizontally the names of the parallel plot lines for the characters, and vertically a chronological timeline of who does what when, and what goes on at the same time. I got the idea from Rowling's layout, which she kept very simple. Here's a version cleaned up by a fan. [[Spoilers if you haven't read the books.]]

BUT. Disclaimer here. I'm writing a sort of mystery, which inherently is a complex genre. (Great thing to start off with, hah.) Think like British murder mysteries where you have about five suspects, a number of victims, and the detective(s). Not only do you need to have the hook, midpoint twist and all that so it flows nicely as a story, you need to know what all the characters are up to at every point in time so that you can place hints correctly to engage the reader, and so that the detective can solve the crime in front of everyone at the end making the reader go "aah so THAT'S what it was!" or "I knew it!". Plot holes are devastating in these kinds of stories, whereas a goofier adventure for example can thrive on the character interactions and the plot is less intricate. So keeping such close tabs on everyone's movements might not be necessary for your story!

Edit: Oh, and I forgot to mention that I have a word document with the characters' wants, needs, backstory, personality, flaws, goal, motivation, etc. I don't know if I'm overly organized or very poorly organized with all these different documents, hehe.

KSlinger 2016-09-23 13:59:45 UTC #42

That's my take. figuring out every little detail before you begin can be suffocating and actually hinder you in getting started, but the degree of planning you are actually okay and can work with will be very personal. Don't be afraid to try both approaches (organic and structured) to see what suits you. There's no textbook guide to these things. Find your process and enjoy yourself.

daeofthepast 2016-09-23 18:36:11 UTC #43

@sarrowsmith10 @Savannah Ooh, hmm. Maybe I can make long vertical chapters, while still keeping in mind this structure?? That way, if I ever wanna make it physical, I can just kinda squish the panels closer together?? :3

@scullpanda Semi planned sounds good! I already have the first chapter somewhat planned in how I want the panels and things, but for the other chapters I might do some small thumbnails to test things out. My biggest problem is figuring out what lines they're gonna say and how they're going to be delivered. If feels like something I'll have trouble with, but hopefully it's something that just gets better with experience.

@stnmaren Thanks!! Looking at examples really solidifies the process for me. I'll test them out!

@shazzbaa Ooh, "closing doors." That gives me ideas for my story, haha. >:3 Also, ooh thumbnails = sketches, kinda. I get it now. Thanks for all the answers!!

@zetina Yesss, it's been fun. Though I still need to come up with the answers to some of those questions ^^;

@amberavara Yeah, I'm not sure how much detail I want to plan beforehand. I've got my main points mostly(though some are being altered as we speak), I can only hope that while writing/drawing, I'll get some cooler ideas!

@NickRowler I think I've got my first chapter pretty well planned- it hasn't changed from before I started this topic, really(just everything else lmao)- so maybe I can start drawing that and try to solidify the next chapter in my head as I do??

@aldesi Oh man, the plans are already changing, haha. It's like "what if this scene just didn't happen??" or "What if I spend more time on this scene??" It's fun X3

I'll try out the excel thing, it sounds interesting!!

@ScampiCub I'll take your advice because yeah, maybe too much structure would be bad. :0

Thanks for the answers you guys. It's been a lotta help!!

In other news, here's a sketch of the protagonist that I've drawn!!

shazzbaa 2016-09-23 19:37:50 UTC #44

Another option is to lay out your comic as "pages" with large panels -- and post them digitally with one page on top of the next page, so you scroll vertically. Pest Caravan is a good example -- it's big and easy-to-read on mobile, but you can take the long episode and chop it in half to get two normal-sized pages without having to change the art at all.

Absolutely! And if you ever have specific questions about dialogue or pacing later on, feel free to ask here on the forums! :>

daeofthepast 2016-09-26 04:55:24 UTC #45

That sounds like a good idea! Having multiple pages on top of each other seems to be my aesthetic, haha.

So I've read the JPG vs PNG comic by the Staff, but I'm still not sure which would be good for my comic?? It says gradients and not a lot of text for JPG, or hard edges and text for PNG. But I want mine to have hard edges, color, some gradients, AND text???

SpavVy 2016-09-26 06:15:44 UTC #46

I always save mine as PNG whether it's color or black and white and I save it as 600dpi. My illustrations can get very colorful, filled with gradients, and they come out just fine. What you could try is have two copies for one of your pages, one in png and one in jpg and see if you can tell the difference. If your still not sure you could try to add them both in an episode, then click preview to look at them both and decide from there.

gateofselidor 2016-09-26 10:39:47 UTC #47

Tapastic's JPG compression isn't very friendly. They knocked the quality down considerably a few months ago. If you have a comic that's purely in a painterly style, it will probably be okay, but otherwise definitely stick with PNG.

SynergyEclipse 2016-09-26 15:37:23 UTC #48

With a script or an outline, you don't have to have every single detail planned out and completely adhere to it. As you're drawing the pages, some good ideas for dialogue or actions that you didn't think of before might pop up, and you don't have to disregard them because they weren't in the script or outline. I write the script before I get to the next story arc, but remain open to the idea that the script isn't completely finalized. The script still guides me, but I sometimes improvise dialogue and actions, or they come to me as I'm drawing the page.

Spinester 2016-11-22 18:35:01 UTC #49

Plan it for sure. If you don't you're basically just putting a first draft out there. First drafts are first drafts for a reason, they are very rough around the edges, often too wordy and don't flow as well as they could.

MrSecond 2016-11-22 21:29:11 UTC #50

As everyone has stated already, if you're going for a narrative-driven comic, you NEED to plan it out and have at least an outline of what you want to say.

May I recommend some books regarding storytelling to help with the planning?

"Save The Cat!" by Blake Snyder. this one will mainly teach you about story structure. something similar to the "The Hero's Journey", in the sense that the book talks about story beats that all movies follow. of course, you don't need to follow the exact path the books suggest, but if you don't have much experience on storytelling, it would be wise to stick to this method until you develop more skill.

The next book is "Invisible Ink" by Brian McDonald. This one is about the importance of the Theme in your story. all great stories are remembered because they had something to tell us. this book will teach you to use your theme properly and avoid unnecessary scenes, characters or lines.

StevenDacasin 2016-11-23 08:37:31 UTC #51

It depends. For gag comics I think you don't really need to plan it out because there's no story really told. But for story comics that have plenty of events and details than those definitely need some planning.