My Initial Writing Process
⚠️Disclaimer⚠️ Obviously, there is no right way to go about writing your story. Some people plan every minute detail beforehand. While others fly by the seat of their pants. I'm somewhere in between. I need enough structure to keep things on track but not so much where it stifles my creative process. As I get to know my characters and their personality develops, I allow them to tell their story.
1. It starts with either an idea for a plot or an idea for the M.C.
For my current WIP, it started with an idea for the plot. Before I settled upon this current plot, I came up with quite a few potential plot ideas. I think my brainstorming document has well over 20 ideas.
2. Flesh out the character or write a synopsis of the story.
Since I started with the plot for the story, I wrote a synopsis. Typically, I limit my synopsis to no more than 3 paragraphs. Then, I rewrite the synopsis once or twice. Writing it from a different perspective allows me to play around with point of view, subplot, and sometimes genre without having to rewrite the whole story.
2B. High-level view of the main characters
Now, at this point in my writing process, my characters aren't fully fleshed out. In some cases (especially this one), my characters' names aren't even determined. I will often give them a temporary name if I don't have something specific in mind. However, there are a few things that are concrete:
Role in the story: Are they the M.C., antagonist, love interest, best friend, henchmen, etc.
Main motivation/purpose in the story
Key words that summarize their personality.
3. General Chapter Outline
I mean, I feel like this is self-explanatory. But once I am happy with the general plot, I then write a few sentences about what takes place in each chapter. The number of chapters depends on how long I want the book to be and if I plan on having a sequel. In this case, since I am outlining a manga series, I think about how many books will be in a series. As we all know, this number can vary, but I feel like somewhere between 10-15 books, a series is sufficient. The current plan is for this story to be a one-shot. However, I am not married to that idea. By this point, I have a potential ending (or two) in mind.
4. DETAILS ...DETAILS... DETAILS
World Building, Character profiles, Magic systems. I could go on and on about these topics. If you'd like me to go more in-depth, I can always create a specific post. However, for this story, their world isn't too magical or fantastical. The story takes place in a world much like our own with a few differences.
Once the world and characters have more substance, then I'll start outlining each chapter. The chapter outline will include the main events that take place. It may include dialog but doesn't always.
5. First Draft / Script / Storyboard
Now, there's not much left to do except start on the initial draft. Writing a manuscript is pretty straightforward. For formatting, I will choose a template and start writing the story based on the chapter outline. During this initial draft, my goal is to get words on the page. And try to stick as close to the outline as possible.
When working on a comic script, I will note things like page numbers, panel numbers, panel size, scene location, shot angle, sound effects, and dialog. Once I complete a chapter, I will then go back and create the storyboard. When storyboarding, I am not worried about detailed illustrations. Often, during this process, inconsistencies are made more apparent. There is also a bit of editing that can take place if need be.
6. Editing, Revisions, Final Artwork
Yeah, there's not much to say here. I will often ask a friend or someone to review it. So far, I've only ever written stories for fun or for an assignment in university. So, I've never gotten a professional editor or beta readers or anything like that. However, since I plan on publishing this work, I will definitely consider hiring someone to review it.
Like I've said, I'm no expert or anything like that, and I've only written mostly for myself or the occasional fan-fiction. I plan on sharing more parts of this process as time goes on.
