Writing that sucker!

[Comix Obsession]

Hey all, haven't been writing in a while.

I was wondering - planning, how much do you do?

You see, I always considered that comics scripts, well, you get an idea and you start writing a script. But then I've been reading a graphic novel saga lately that has truly inspired me - and I think, this must have all been planned. But planning that many books??

What do you all do - do you plan out the whole story before you write, or have, like I've seen before, rough outlines to stick to whilst going all over the place with your story?

Thanks in advance for the help on this!

[KH]

It kind of depends on the story.

I've got a Greg Bear-style blow up the earth, far future thing that's been sitting on the back burner for a while. I planned out each issue with a summary and solid points for me to get to. It's not a page by page outline by any means and leaves room for imagination and exploration.

Then I have another thing I'm working on (here) that had a beginning and a set of characters and I'm just sort of writing and letting what comes out dictate what comes next.

Both work, both are fun. I think it mostly depends on the type of story you're working with. Is it technically complex involving hours of research? or is there a lot of character exploration and dialogue/captions and cerebralism?

There's more types of stories and the nut of the story seems to drive the writing style for me.

[fluxchild]

IMO planning can be great, and bad at the same time. I start off the top of my head just to get a feel for the characters, or at least my main character. I also write backwards. Once I get a plotline, I figure out the ending, and that makes it alot easier for my characters to move along in my created world. Coming up with subplots is also important in the beginning just so you'll have some ammo to keep readers interested in the characters. I feel that this way you can also foreshadow as well as come up with some interesting subplots on the fly.
On the other hand, too much planning can make you push the story back, and you never end up writing the story. Even though you have a solid skeletal work ofyour creation.
my two cents

[Gilby]

Lotsa planning and rewrites.

Start with a big outline that covers the whole story arc. So if it is a 3-issue story, I would have an outline for that story that follows the method of the "Levitz Paradigm" diagram which Dennis O'Neil writes about in the DC Comics Guide to Writing.

Then I do a page by page outline for each individual issue, breaking the plot down across the proposed pages.

From there I rough out the pages into thumbnails with little blurbs of dialogue. I keep refining and reworking these pages until I have pretty solid thumbnails with dialogue.

I then transcribe those final "thumbnail and dialogue" pages into an MS Word template. And even this "final" version goes through a few more revisions.

[daweir]

I write every individual scene on an index card. Once I have them all down, I thumbtack the cards to the walls all over the house. After about a week, my fiancee gets mad and takes them down. The order they're in after she's done ripping them out of the wall is how I put them in my story.




Not really, but now that I said that I'm going to try it. Just to see what I come up with. I'll post it here.

[RTaylor]

I also think it depends on the story you are writing.

My method for a new story is to get all the main characters outlined and write the basic plot. From there I start writing the script but I usually dont write just 22 pages and then start over with page one. I write as though I will be doing a graphic novel and write pages 1 through whatever. Most of the time I will go beyound the original basic plot because because as the idea develops the plot may change.

Now when I am writing Assassins Guild, since I am currently working on the 16th issue script I just pick up a pen and start writing because I have it plotted out for at least 50 issues.

My method also includes hand writing everything as a first draft then when I type it out on my computer I do a second draft. After typing it out I reread it and finalize everything, making sure that the story falls into continuity and there are no holes in the plot or timeline of the series.

I would say your first step should be character development because if you do not know your characters how are you going to write about them. But I am so insane that I create an entire history of a character, including a family tree and life event timeline for each of the main characters. That way I know how a character would react in a situation I put them in. And even though Im not much of an artist I do some face studies of each character. Each series I write has a notebook dedicated to the characters. It is something I can use for reference while writing.

But you got to do your own thing. Take others suggestions and create a hybrid that suits you and your style.

[fluxchild]

I also think it depends on the story you are writing.

My method for a new story is to get all the main characters outlined and write the basic plot. From there I start writing the script but I usually dont write just 22 pages and then start over with page one. I write as though I will be doing a graphic novel and write pages 1 through whatever. Most of the time I will go beyound the original basic plot because because as the idea develops the plot may change.

Now when I am writing Assassins Guild, since I am currently working on the 16th issue script I just pick up a pen and start writing because I have it plotted out for at least 50 issues.

My method also includes hand writing everything as a first draft then when I type it out on my computer I do a second draft. After typing it out I reread it and finalize everything, making sure that the story falls into continuity and there are no holes in the plot or timeline of the series.

I would say your first step should be character development because if you do not know your characters how are you going to write about them. But I am so insane that I create an entire history of a character, including a family tree and life event timeline for each of the main characters. That way I know how a character would react in a situation I put them in. And even though Im not much of an artist I do some face studies of each character. Each series I write has a notebook dedicated to the characters. It is something I can use for reference while writing.

But you got to do your own thing. Take others suggestions and create a hybrid that suits you and your style.


I do just about everything you do, but it slows me down tremendously. So I try and focus on the story more now.