Story-Crafting Survival Tools

Let me introduce you to my two best friends.

My notebook:

And my sketchpad:

Most people who've seen my writing can tell you that I like to write huge sweeping story arcs that take weeks to read. In my opinion, this is because I'm lazy. I forget who said it, but I live by the mantra "I'd write a shorter story if I had the time". And that's the truth. Editing takes forever.

Comics are no different, for me. I don't know about you, dear reader, but when it comes to me, I can't not be thinking about whatever it is I happen to be writing at the time. That's why I always carry with me the two items you see, above.

Both are wonderful places to jot down any and all ideas I may come up with on the fly... and I definitely think my best ideas come at the least opportune times: The shower, meetings, and while driving long distances, to name a few. Granted, in each of these scenarios, it'd be tough to jot down any kind of note, so more often than not, I won't do so right then and there. But that's fine too. It gives me time to think things through and add to them, then put them in my notebook or sketch pad, in a (usually) better developed form. Not final, but better than the first moment they popped into my tiny brain.

The notebook contains many little snippets of good ideas. It also contains a full plot synopsis -- one which has things added to it, constantly. The way I write goes something like this:

1. Plot out story and write a rough outline. This is similar to laying out a full art comp in circles, lines and panels.
   
2. Draw a few scenes, and see what comes to mind while doing so. This helps me visualize where the story can go, how the characters act and talk, what should be said, and even little twists and turns which could arise later.
   
3. Write down any dialogue, characterization notes, important plot points or twists in the notebook, paying special attention to where they fall in the scheme of the story. This is my version of making a timeline.
   
4. If it's a comic book that I'm working on and I'm confident enough in a particular scene, I'll start to draw a few pages of the actual book, at this point. If not, I might draw the cover, or a frontispiece. Else, I'll go back to drawing sketches here and there. The same process of thinking up new things, drawing them out, and adding to the notebook, then drawing more sketches and etc., repeats itself from this point, until the book is finished.
   
5. ?????
   
6. PROFIT!

And that's about it. The notebook is very important, and oftentimes contains several stories at once. It's a must, when you're taking on something that will eventually require you to develop several characters, all at the same time. If you don't care about trying your hand at believable continuity, or just would rather confuse yourself and your audience, then feel free not to use one.

The sketchpad is just as useful as the notebook, both for those initial first sketches and what you can likely see from the above photo -- thumbnails of finished pages. I'm obviously very visual, and no matter what I'm doing, drawing always helps to make it easier to achieve.

Coming up next, I'll show you what's in my drawing bag...