Many writers and creators have different processes when it comes to writing a story; myself included. When I first started working on Miserably Altered, I didn't know where to start or even how the story should begin. After all, creating a comic book was not in mind when I sketched the desert valley setting of where the beginning of the story would take place.
The sketch to the left is the initial drawing that I drew. I wanted to practice landscapes since it wasn't my strong suit.
After much erasing and errors, I finally was satisfied with the way it came out! It wasn't til weeks later that the idea of making this the start of a story was brought into the air.
So I thought, "Why not?"
My favorite genres are horror and fantasy, so I knew I wanted to base the story on those themes. I put my sketchbooks aside and brought out my laptop to start writing out my story. From many other other articles I have read online and even from classes at the time, I learned that it was best to come up with an outline and to have your story written out before proceeding with the comic to make sure everything would work out.
After writing the prologue, outline, and overall synopsis, I felt like it was a waste of my time. Writing was not my strong suit either. Words were hard for me to get out on paper the way I wanted it to. Therefore, I put my laptop away and took out my sketchbooks. I know. I know. Many would say this is a mistake to skip this vital step in the process but for me, I felt like it would be a waste of my time and not something that worked well for me.
I am a visual person. I need my sketchbook and pencil or my iPad and pen to get my story laid out. So instead of doing outlines, I did comic pages with descriptions of what was happening in the page. I would also write a three to five sentence description of what I would want to happen in each issue. THIS was easier for me. I did not go into much detail when writing these quick descriptions. Just enough for me to know what would happen.
And yes, reading words and seeing images are completely different things. Reading takes longer as to the visual part of it. SO the words were my guide while my sketches said all the details.
This is the process I do when I create my comic issues. Every artist is different. My advice to you is to not stick to one thing. Try a couple things out to see what works best for you.
I am a visual person.
And my story all started with a sketch.
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