21 replies to this topic

[mikeread88]

Hey everyone I've decided to write this out of curiousity really I am just wondering how other people develop their ideas in their stories or comics.

The majority of the time I personaly come up with a character first and come up with a little history of the character which may not be neccesarilly relevant in the story but it helps me have a feel for that character and how that infulences his/her decisions. On the occasions I have come up with the story first it hasn't worked out too well for me I have been developing something for years and stil hardly anywhere with it and also I had come with an idea recently about retired superheroes who are forced to don the cape once again now the world is in peril it would of been called The Golden Age turns out Jonathan Ross had the same exact idea.

So yeah let me know folks..

[THE REAL SCOTt]

Hey everyone I've decided to write this out of curiousity really I am just wondering how other people develop their ideas in their stories or comics.

The majority of the time I personaly come up with a character first and come up with a little history of the character which may not be neccesarilly relevant in the story but it helps me have a feel for that character and how that infulences his/her decisions. On the occasions I have come up with the story first it hasn't worked out too well for me I have been developing something for years and stil hardly anywhere with it and also I had come with an idea recently about retired superheroes who are forced to don the cape once again now the world is in peril it would of been called The Golden Age turns out Jonathan Ross had the same exact idea.

So yeah let me know folks..

That's really interesting! I don't think I've ever come up with the character first. Usually, I come up with the story first. The best stories come to me from life situations. I was looking for a job and started pretending to be a cyborg and came up with KRAK. Really, ideas come from all different places. I don't remember where most came from. The current idea just came to me as a funny idea. No real idea exactly why. It's just a funny cute story idea, and the artist likes it, too. Anyway. you are lucky. I've had some pretty important editors say they really like my stuff and like the humor and ideas and stuff, but that my stories are not character-based and that's the reason they can't publish them. I feel my characters are strong, but I can't really argue too much that the stories focus more on plot. Maybe we could collaborate and make the perfect story? Heh.

[Chris D]

Hmm, I don't know if I have a usual way of doing things. I think I still experiment with different ways of approaching writing projects. Sometimes I'll think of themes I'm really interested in exploring and then what genre they'd fit best in (or what genre I think I'd enjoy using them in). Sometimes, as a basic writing exercise, I'll ask people to give me a title that I can try to build a story from. Or I'll make up crazy titles myself and revisit them way later and see if they spark any odd inspiration. And other times I'll have the basic idea of a story and just go from there and see what characters and/or themes naturally pop up from that, and then see if I find it at all workable/worth it to continue.

I wish I did have more of a set system, though. I'd probably get more writing done.

[ditta]

In comics, if it's a short story, I come up various thoughts in my head. If any look good, I scribble onto paper dialogue, beats, set ups. Then I write a short synopsis on Word. Do the breakdowns of the panels/page. Then write the script.

If it's an on-going (not done a lot of these yet) I plot a rough arc. Then give a detailed synopsis of each issue of the arc/the characters and key components and back story. Then I do the first issue's breakdown. Then complete the script.

This is roughly how I write plus loads of procrastinating. Usually on the Internet.

[Russell H]

That's pretty much it for me too.

[mattgarvey1981]

i try to come up with a interesting situation, scene or twist and work around it.
Or in case of the twist, i start with that and work backwards of how i think my characters would get to that point.

[David Meadows]

I think up a set of cool ideas and then work out what story they belong in.

[Kavanagh]

It's different for me every time. Sometimes it's a character, sometimes a whole story, sometimes a concept. A lot of the time I come up with the name of the story before anything else. My latest one in that line is "Don Of The Dead" about a zombie Mafia Boss.

To be honest, the amount of time I come up with an idea simply because I see a publisher is taking submissions is ridiculous.

[THE REAL SCOTt]

Yeah, I had given up writing before BARBARIAN, but came back because Mark Waid said he was accepting submissions at Boom! and the artist wanted to do a Conan thing. The story turned out great, but by the time it was done, Boom! no longer took submissions. I sort of resent Waid and Boom! for that.

[GordonM]

Once an idea pops into my head I work out the basic story, make sure I have an ending and then just start writing, see where it goes.

[James L. Sarandis]

I'm pretty much all of the above, I use whatever process is most effective at the time and go from there. Sorry if that's less than helpful.

[craggy]

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, when I met you...


edit: ACTUALLY. Because SOME members here have given non-parody answers that make a modicum of sense...


Mike, I tend to come up with scenes in my head. Often it's the end of a story, or at the very least, one of the important turning points in a narrative. That then makes me think about the person(s) involved and how they got to that place, and why they're doing what they're doing. From there I begin to build the character, and oftentimes I find myself working on the stories that lead up to the specific events I want to tell.

Take for example "Luke Skywalker watched as Darth Vader took his final breaths", it's a fine little sentence, sure, but with 3 films leading up to it, showing us who each of those characters is, and giving an impression of what it means that things have come to this, it has a hell of a lot more impact.

There are times, of course, where things just pop into my head, like "wouldn't it be cool, if there was a story, where the patterns on a cow were a treasure map?" and I'll develop something from there, but more often than not, I get an idea of a scene that says something to me, be it intellectual, or emotive, and I'll then try and figure out how to work that into something that other people have a hope of comprehending. Because there's no goddam point in writing something that no-one even begins to understand.

[Stephen Galvin]

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, when I met you...


edit: ACTUALLY. Because SOME members here have given non-parody answers that make a modicum of sense...


Mike, I tend to come up with scenes in my head. Often it's the end of a story, or at the very least, one of the important turning points in a narrative. That then makes me think about the person(s) involved and how they got to that place, and why they're doing what they're doing. From there I begin to build the character, and oftentimes I find myself working on the stories that lead up to the specific events I want to tell.

Take for example "Luke Skywalker watched as Darth Vader took his final breaths", it's a fine little sentence, sure, but with 3 films leading up to it, showing us who each of those characters is, and giving an impression of what it means that things have come to this, it has a hell of a lot more impact.

There are times, of course, where things just pop into my head, like "wouldn't it be cool, if there was a story, where the patterns on a cow were a treasure map?" and I'll develop something from there, but more often than not, I get an idea of a scene that says something to me, be it intellectual, or emotive, and I'll then try and figure out how to work that into something that other people have a hope of comprehending. Because there's no goddam point in writing something that no-one even begins to understand.

I like that treasure map cow. You have an 'interesting' way of seeing things, Craggy.
My self, I see things like a film. Sort of like daydreaming, but as as soon as I start to write or draw, they solidify.
Then it pours out, becuase the internal logic dictates what happens next.
Weird, really. Plus I twist the story so that I can put in things I think are cool.

[ditta]

Oooh! Oooh! Also I play every role as I attempt to 'act' the sumbitch out if I'm stuck with the plot points/dialogue.

[Russell H]

Always read your dialogue aloud. If it doesn't sound right out loud, it won't look right on the page.

Also, make sure it looks right on the page. Some things work when spoken but not when written down.

[Scott the Writer]

The only real rule I have is that it's organic. If you're blocked, i's probably because the stuff you wrote in your last session was not organic. Serve the story.

[JWCarroll]

I like to write the panel descriptions first because it comes easily to me and I enjoy doing it. Once I have the whole story down and laid out I go back and add the dialog. It makes it a lot easier to do.

[mikeread88]

Thanks guys your input has been very helpful to me, I look forward to seeing your work

[Kavanagh]

Wow, reading all this stuff about doing plot outlines and that kind of thing really makes my "bull in a china shop" approach of (with a few exceptions) just sitting at my laptop with a rough idea in my head and rolling with it seem every bit as haphazard as it probably is. Although sometimes in the middle of something I get a "that'd be cool" moment and it turns a story from something pedestrian to something awesom.

Well, it's worked most of the time so far, so why change the habit of a lifetime?

[Chris D]

Wow, reading all this stuff about doing plot outlines and that kind of thing really makes my "bull in a china shop" approach of (with a few exceptions) just sitting at my laptop with a rough idea in my head and rolling with it seem every bit as haphazard as it probably is.

That's kind of how I approach short stories. Get a basic idea and just go. But that method doesn't work for me with more long form stuff. I essentially need to break it down into several rough ideas that connect together. I don't do very detailed breakdowns, but I definitely need to sketch out a rough outline for each section of the book I'm working on otherwise it's too daunting a project.