So I'm trying to organize a schedule, to speed up my production on my comic, but right now I'm kind of just weighing in on what I should do first. After all, a Webcomic's work is never done, and now I can't decide if I should sketch more pages, color pages, work on script pages, work on the story outline, or maybe even other stuff, like develop designs for items, places, or characters.

I'll probably figure something out before the end of the day, but it got me wondering; What do you you guys do for your process? How do you schedule the parts of your work you need to do or are you all just doing whatever parts you feel like doing (something that does NOT work for me)?

Hell, even if you don't have long story arcs to figure out or weird scfi details to make up, do you still do the standard sketch, ink and color process? Or do you buck the trend in some way?

Let me know!

I'm lucky in that the source material for my comics is already written to conclusion. So usually before I go to create a page, I reference the source material and think about how I'm going to adapt it to a graphic version.

Once I've decided what I want to see in the page, I start drafting. I won't say that this is a foolproof process, because there are times that I'm not sure how I'm going to show what I want my readers to see.

Once I've drafted the page I then set up my layers (from bottom to top: draft, contrast, BG Flats, Bg shading, FG, FG Shading, inks (SFX if needed), Frames, thick frames, Copyright, Page number, Dialogue bubbles, and the many different layers of dialogue.) Actually this is normally as I get to it process, the initial set up is usually just inks, contrast, flats.

From there I start into the actual inking coloring and such of the production.

I structure my work based on priority; the earlier in the process a step is, the higher its priority level/the sooner it needs to get done.

Broken down, the order looks like this:
-Plot outline/brainstorming/planning in general
-Script
-Thumbnails
-Sketched pages
-Inks
-Tones
-Scanning/digital cleanup

Because my comic is super duper long and ongoing, it's not exactly as linear as it looks-- I tend to write only a chapter or two of script at a time, and then I wait until I'm within 10 pages of the end of my script before I write more. This leaves me flexible, since I can adapt later scripts to the small changes that tend to be introduced when I start actually drawing the pages.

I try to keep my scripts 5-30 pages ahead of wherever I currently am, my thumbnails 3-5 pages ahead, and I try to always have at least one page sketched and on the go (but 3-5 pages is preferable). I tend to do inks/tones/scanning/editing in a single sitting, so that stage generally has to wait until I have a solid chunk of hours tree, though the other parts of the process I can do anywhere.

So I guess... my 'structure' is really like trying to keep a whole bunch of cups filled with water, and every cup leaks at a slightly different rate; I just have to make sure none of them ever run on empty, because that means I need to drop every other part of the process and focus on that one. And I have to watch the planning/scripting cups the most closely, because if they ever run out I can't do anything else until I sort them out.

Right now that's been happening more often than I'd like, thanks to a confluence of other freelance work, travel, and other rl shenanigans taking time away XD;;

I've been working on mine for a while so there's a lot more in dev than what people see.

1. Draft everything. This usually starts with 4 sentences (Beginning, middle, climax, end) Those four get pushed out into 22 page chapter chunks and I usually try to pace everything based on how much time I think the setup takes for the first chapter (how many pages does it take to establish characters, advance plot etc.) Once the entire/majority of the book is drafted by page (usually a short description of page and panel) I can move on.

2. I then move on to a chapter chunk process for scripting. I give myself lots of time in between drafts and scripts to hate everything and toss out/rewrite huge chunks. I like to wait until the first arc, or set up is well scripted before moving on, as that will be the foundation for everything else moving forward.

3. Thumbnails, these are tiny individual sketches that let me change the pacing from text to image (sometimes I find I overwrite dialog and it doesn't move over to the visuals or pacing very well. And action choreography will eat up pages that I didn't account for in my writing.) Once two chapters are completed I usually don't have a problem moving on to the next step.

4. For every two thumbnail chapters that get completed I'm allowed to do one layout page. Thumbnails usually let me focus on movement and individual shots, (as well as story changes) but layout is primarily focused on it sitting on the entirety of the page. Once two chapters of layout is done I move on to the next step. Layouts tend to be much larger versions of thumbnails. This is also when places and side characters get some art time.

5. Sketching! These are rough full sized versions of what the page will be. This part lets me focus on speech bubble placement, general perspective, character/proportion checks etc. This also is usually the point where I start determining if I can tell what is going on with my Layout as a whole now that more details are being placed. I can also start tossing in easter eggs and tiny visual setups for later payoffs. Once two chapters of sketches are completed, I move on to the next step. (So just fyi, this time in development 1 Sketch chapters = 2 layouts = 4 thumbnails)

6. Penciling. Depending on how often a chapter is re-written, some of my pencils will look more like sketches. But this is typically when I go over all the rough sketch and fix volumes and perspective. This also tends to be when I start focusing on cleaning up the dialog the most (thanks to SF!). Detail work is added here. Two chapters of penciling and I can move on.

7. Inks is next, and can go pretty quickly depending on the detail of the scene and how much work I've put into the penciling of the thing, but can slog if the foundation isn't clear. Two chapters completed, can move on to the next. This is when some font changes start happening

8. Flat colours and texture/screentones is up next. I don't tend to put textures in inks, cause inks usually takes me the longest to do. And sometimes I don't determine the material of the object until I want to colour it when I determine the values. Or if it should even have that detail on it. 2 chapters and move on.

9.Rendering - the fun part. All my coloured lighting falls in here. Shadows highlights etc. Some sound effects, fancy dialog etc. Usually I select an overall base colour to make the page(s) feel cohesive and focus on how the scene is lit.

10. Visual and sound fx & cleanup. I leave this part by itself so my mind is fresh when I see it again. This is when I really start focusing on things like glare, dust, light streams, sounds & their font, as well as really trying to catch the last spelling mistakes. Complete chapter, draw some covers to chill out, put up for buffer (I prefer a larger dev time so I need a larger buffer). So when I tossed up my first chapter I had about 1 completed chapter, 2 rendered chapters, 4 flats, 8 inked chapters, 16 pencilled chapters, 32 sketched chapters. (But my story is a beast so I don't expect anyone else to follow this method, tho you could do it by page instead )

I am also going to put it out there that I work in the 'never stagnate' method, where I can only change a chapter during the draft - sketching phases, if I can't fix it by penciling it stays broken as I move on to the next chapter.

My page-by-page process is similar to the two posters above me, so I'm not going to elaborate too much on that part.

Speaking about the bigger picture, I try to structure my comic into chunks that make the work easier to schedule and manage. In some respects I feel this is where I buck the trend a bit. Most long-form webcomics are organized by chapters, but an individual chapter's length can vary. Sometimes the chapter length varies within a comic itself.

I took a page (no pun intended) from monthly floppies and I do "issues" instead of "chapters." Each of my issues will be 20 pages. This helps me structure my writing, both for the whole story arc and each individual page, too.

I'll loosely outline an entire story arc and figure out how many issues I want to use to cover the arc. Then I'll start with rough page-by-page outlines, just to get a feel for what beats will happen when. This process actually helps me get a look at the story, both up close and far away, which in turn makes it easier to adjust my story before I start scripting.

Note: I'm not trying to say the variable-length chapter style is bad or anything. I did that on my first webcomic, but I find the set-length issue style helps make my writing a LOT easier.

Before I even started putting pages up or anything I got the first volume entirely outlined and a big chunk (the first six chapters) of the script written, because I didn't want to find myself getting behind. Then I got the whole prologue finished plus ten pages of the first chapter, because I'm a bit paranoid ab out my buffer due injuries I've had in the past that took me out of action for months at a time.

My general process is pretty similar to what other people have said.

1: Outline. This is all done for volume one, but it'll be the first step when I get to volume two. I do this all at once rather than in chunks, although it does sometimes get revised slightly as I go.

2: Scripting. I've been trying to keep a good sixty or so pages ahead of what I'm actually working on, and it's up to more like ninety pages by now. I'm trying to get the script completely finished this month.

3: Thumbnails. I do these in batches, printing out a few chapters of script and then working them all up in a sketchbook. I've been doing this every few months so far.

4: Pencils. This is the first step that I'm doing on a weekly basis, and I usually try and get four pages or thereabouts pencilled in a week (although if I've got a bunch sitting uninked still, I leave off on it for that week).

5: Inks. This is what I really make sure to get done every week if I can, at least two pages -- finishing at least as many pages as I'm putting up. When I'm building the buffer I try for more than that, more like four in a week.

6: Scanning, adjusting, and lettering. I tend to do this all as one step because it's all the digital stuff, and I try and do it as soon as I've got the inks done. If I did colour that would be in this step as well.

I guess I kind of have a stepped amount of how much I have done, and I'm figuring that I'll finish each step completely (as in, have all the script done, then all the thumbnails) sort of in order and then move on to the starting point again for the next volume.

For my comic, I've had the story in my head for years. It wasn't until recently that I wrote down the main important parts and started filling in the pieces in between. I currently have the first 7 chapters scripted, but I have the entire story planned out to the end. I don't set everything in stone though, as I've found that I tend to change things in the story or add new elements. My comic is a very long story, so with the time it will take for me to create it, I will have plenty of time to make changes as I see fit.

Typically with the script that I have made, my process is:

-Thumbnail the entire chapter: I draw pretty small thumbnails of each page to figure out pacing and paneling. If I thumbnail too many chapters ahead of time, I have a hard time reading my own thumbnails lol, so I usually do one chapter at a time.

-Sketch the pages: A lot of times I just roughly sketch these out on scrap paper. If I'm feeling fancy, I'll sketch them up in Photoshop.

-Word balloons: I try to add these in the stage between my sketch and ink stages so I can tell if I need to make any changes to the panels.

-Ink: Once I have my sketch, I ink using Manga Studios/Clip Studios.

-Flats: I flat everything in Photoshop.

-BGs: I draw in my backgrounds. If I wait to do these until the very end of the page making process, I will drag my feet (I hate drawing backgrounds!)

-Shading characters: Shade the characters and add any final details.

One thing I'm doing a bit different while working on my 3rd chapter is working on my pages in terms of scenes. In the 2nd chapter I drew everything out and inked all 25 pages before going back through and coloring them. I hit a huge artist slump because I burned myself out trying to color and do bgs for 25 pages. Now I'm splitting up my pages into workable chunks to avoid burnout.