I wish my outlines were this organised. I think I have some notes on my phone, some on my computer in different files aaaand the rest in my mind that I hope I never forget 😂
Outlining has become one of my favorite steps in the comic process honestly nothing makes my heart sign, quite like a finished outline, but then again I always tweak them a little so they’re never really finished.
Yeah, I am constantly tweaking my story, adding panels and dialogue as I'm drawing. Sometimes I change too much and forget what I was thinking when it's time to go back and letter it all. I am trying to be better at keeping track of my changes.
Hah thanks. The less you second guess yourself and worry about things being "good" the more open you become to inspiration. Plus stories all have the same basic building blocks, you just stack them in different, exciting ways.
Perfect timing for this upload, since I was thinking yesterday of how to approach the writing of a story (in a format for comix, of course). When I write fiction (for fun) it is usually of great length. I need to toss that idea for a comic. At least the artwork can take the place of narrative, mostly. I am still working to reconcile the components of storytelling to keep it interesting. It is all a process of unlearning some of the old ways but still maintaining impact. My mind keeps telling me to break things up so the protagonist can go from one adventure to another. Once I hit the right "formula", all else will fall quickly into place. Thanks.
It's interesting how medium can affect the rules of storytelling. A good story is a good story, but storytelling has to change for the environment. Have fun!
I was scared at first to but, i just dived in because it is something i liked to do. Here u can read mine here www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/undercover-demons/list?title_no=571373 u will see it is not perfect i am very happy with it
This is a super helpful and fun idea! I've never tried to do a flow-of-thought braindump sort of thing like this, but I've been having trouble working out my comic's plot so I'm gonna try it. Wish me luck :)
When you come up with ideas for a story and are very excited confident about it but worried about using them, should I put aside good ideas until I get more experience with storytelling or go ahead and use them? I’m worried about the possibly negative outcomes because I didn’t execute the ideas the way I hoped. Also how do you decide what stories you want to write? I’ve had a lot of ideas for stories but I end up becoming bored of them. Either that or I have some ideas but become indecisive as to which ones I could use first Sorry if I’m m overwhelming you with questions. I’m just very curious.
You should work on the stories that excite you. A really important lesson for new creators is to realize that ideas aren't precious. Like you said you have a lot of ideas. It's possible the one idea you think is "The One" could be sucky, and the one stupid idea you have will end up being your best story ever. The one thing I would suggest is don't work on a big story for your first projects, work on small ideas. Stories that you could finish in a month, then another that you can do in 3 months, then maybe one you can finish in a year. It's really important that you start getting finished projects under your belt. it will change you whole outlook on creating.
Thank you so much for your videos and tips, your channel is very helpful and I can't wait to watch every single video of yours! I have a question though, how do you go about documenting your comic drawing tasks so you can see your progress with time?
My story got little bits of start up to the end of story in my mind ,but it is still better this way of outline everything . ( Still at coloring episode 3 pages( 2 - 30) , 2 more episode to go with 28 to 30 page each ) still observing how fast i create each episode and make adjustments so i can publish weekly. And i stop my commissions in fiverr so i can focus on publishing my comic 😆 thanks for the tip alwise!
haha i literally have ‘make comic outline’ in my to do list today. perfect timing! just wanted to add: every story may need a different type of outline. some projects of mine are just a simple bullet list, others are paragraphs, others are super fancy color coded ones that have illustrations to how it relates to the five act structure etc) ive wasted so much time trying to figure out The Perfect Outlining Method but i realized i didnt need to do that! just do whatever the story needs right now. (and thank you so much for the upload!)
Nice video! Love the masterpiece :) I always start outlines and end up abandoning them because I get stuck worrying they are not good. I really need to get over it. It is similar to drawing, you can only improve by trying.
That's right. Make some bad stories, just make them short, so you can finish it and move on to something better. Half finished stuff can leave an impact. Finished stuff leaves a better impact, even if it is a great final product, it is a final product.
Awesome tips, Walter! When I write the stories for my manga projects I usually use Google docs and in the beginning I literally just word vomit every idea that comes to mind 😆
Once you start looking at stories as little pieces, you'll notice a lot of stories share the same pieces, and you can take those and mix and match, come up with something unique. It's like a story salad bar.
Of course you can use paper. I'll bring notebooks around with me to jot down ideas. Sometimes I just really need to get away from my computer and technology, so I grab a notebook and pen and go hide somewhere.
This video was both very encouraging and entertaining! I’ve been using the doc format u recommended from one of your videos eons ago (it was about outlining or scripting or both) and it’s been super helpful! Though it does take time and thought, it’s interesting how quickly a story can unfold from a simple premise! If I have kids, I’ll make sure to watch the moon and how many minutes after midnight it’s been 😂 On a related story telling note, I’ve seen multiple comic professionals recommend completing a smaller project before tackling your 500+ page big dream project. However, I only have story ideas for my big story. What would u recommend, should I try coming up with a new idea for a short story or somehow make a short version of my longer story (woof)
Yes, do something short. It's important to get some finished projects under your belt. Not just for yourself, but to show to the world and get some street cred. Come up some a stupid short story, something you could do in a month or even a week, i don't know your schedule. But get some stuff done. You could always write a short story for your big epic. Like maybe the characters are going to the park in your world. Nothing crazy, just explore the characters and their interactions.
Hey I forgot he video but I commented something about a thing called soul dashers, so I’m gonna make it on a website called tapas.io because it’s free so if you don’t see it on web toon then that’s where it’s at
Walter, I have a huge problem. my outlines r great one day and the next day I'm making another variation of my story and this keeps on going on and on. Basically, Even after I make an outline, I still get more and more ideas which force me to tweak the whole story all over again. Know any ways to deal with that? Anyways, great vid like always!
Deadlines. Give yourself a deadline. The writing has to be done by a certain time, so you can start drawing by a certain and finish by a certain time. If you're worried about doing that on your big story, make up a small story that you can finish and that doesn't have to be "perfect", just so you can get that feel of finishing something. Once you finish one thing it's easier to finishing another thing.
This may be dumb but how do you know when it's best to call the outline done and start actually working on the comic. I'm not sure how detailed I'm supposed to go with my outline and how small the details get. Thank you in advance
Meanwhile, me who has written 200 page full book like script thing, (not focus ing on the Grammer or spelling tho 😅) it was fun but it's not the best way as you said, it can turn out bad, I had to write 4 storys each 100 pages, finally, i wrote the 5th story which turned out way batter with 200 pages, more or less don't do what I did people 😂😂
@@walterostlie I learned to write with a lot of detail, expression, interwiving plot points and almost got really really good at foreshadowing aswell, as they say " practice makes perfect" I got batter at storytelling in general so I'm in a way happy I did it this way (even tho it's not the best way)
The closest to an outline I have is discord conversations since my webtoon is semi rp based XD There's just so many messages and I haven't written down the keywords... Usually I pick out the messages and alter them for a comic script
@@walterostlie Oh it's chaos at its peak. We don't even write stuff in chronological order, and everything is formatted like those incorrect quotes on Tumblr. Sometimes I pick an early message and just read through everything to refresh my memory on what already happened and what I can use for the comic. But I never have a clear picture. It's really fun though and I can ramble about the characters to people who are "in the loop" and don't need to watch out for spoilers. Which in the end makes me care less about webtoon subscribers or views since I already have them to talk to about the comic.
@@walterostlie The Ordinance ☺️ maybe even if you look at my webtoon in your critic videos, I would be very happy. I would like you to see. www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-ordinance/list?title_no=498893
Hello! I’m a huge fan of your work and your videos! I’ve been writing an outline for a story, but I’m not sure if it will turn out good. Should I write the script for each episode/panel of the entire series before drawing the episodes or should I write/draw a few episodes at a time? Sorry, I don’t know if this is a dumb question.
If you have a solid outline, you can write a few episodes and then start drawing, then write the rest while drawing. You can run into some snags, so it depends on how much you like to think on your feet and be adaptable. If you like to make sure every piece is planned, then write all the episodes first. I usually write the first 10-20 episodes and start drawing. Then I'll stop drawing for a little bit and write the next 5-10 episodes, or whatever the next small story arc involves. I have run into problems or thought of better ideas that I can no longer use because I am too far into drawing/uploading, but nothing's perfect. Have fun!
Oh man, totally forgot about that movie. I've never been able to finish the movie, same with Legend. Yeah, pretty much same story , like most stories ;)
@@walterostlie Yeah. sadly I lost my family to it so I only have my brother left. going to keep pushing forward and I'm really still trying to one day launch my Webtoon aswell. It was soemthing my family was really looking forward to.
@@walterostlie I would like to take this opportunity to Thank you a lot for all of your videos and advices! It really helps me a lot writing my story ♥️.
The comic thumbnail? if you're talking about the banner that runs across top, only originals can do it. For the thumbnail, make sure the art style is apparent and that it is easy to see what it's the thumbnail, no complex backgrounds. Remember it will be very small on people's screen, so it has to very clear. For the banner, it is similar, but it can be more complex, you want to show off all the cool stuff in your comic.
@@walterostlie haha I knew my question was hard to understand. I mean the title/logo of the comic itself, that everyone stamps right at the beginning of their comic? I’m really not sure what to refer to it as?? I have very little graphic design knowledge so I’m really intimidated. I hope that clears my question up! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer! I’m taking notes from your other answer too lol!
Hey I just subscribed because I really love your vids, they are very understanding to me. Also I literally just started with the WEBTOON platform, so I hope my story becomes a success one day.
I liked that evil inside baby brother thing, this is right up my alley! you haven't done any comic critiques lately, will you be doing those in the future?
![New Comic Writers Don't Do This [2021]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_JmTArWrCGI/mqdefault.jpg)
I like how the story progressively gets darker as this video goes on
It's also started out somewhat familiar (*cough, cough* the labyrinth *cough, cough*) lmfao
I wish my outlines were this organised. I think I have some notes on my phone, some on my computer in different files aaaand the rest in my mind that I hope I never forget 😂
oof. I've forgotten so many ideas. write it down on that napkin!
Same.
So true for me!!
Same, same and same 😎👉🏻
Outlining has become one of my favorite steps in the comic process honestly nothing makes my heart sign, quite like a finished outline, but then again I always tweak them a little so they’re never really finished.
Yeah, I am constantly tweaking my story, adding panels and dialogue as I'm drawing. Sometimes I change too much and forget what I was thinking when it's time to go back and letter it all. I am trying to be better at keeping track of my changes.
I would love to read this story it's so random but interesting 😂
I know and he just came up with this on the spot like whut
Hah thanks. The less you second guess yourself and worry about things being "good" the more open you become to inspiration. Plus stories all have the same basic building blocks, you just stack them in different, exciting ways.
I love how simple you breakdown the steps. I’m one of those who must have an outline lol
Outlines are a life saver for sure.
this is a wonderfully simple and productive way to outline! love it
Thanks!
Perfect timing for this upload, since I was thinking yesterday of how to approach the writing of a story (in a format for comix, of course). When I write fiction (for fun) it is usually of great length. I need to toss that idea for a comic. At least the artwork can take the place of narrative, mostly. I am still working to reconcile the components of storytelling to keep it interesting. It is all a process of unlearning some of the old ways but still maintaining impact. My mind keeps telling me to break things up so the protagonist can go from one adventure to another. Once I hit the right "formula", all else will fall quickly into place. Thanks.
It's interesting how medium can affect the rules of storytelling. A good story is a good story, but storytelling has to change for the environment. Have fun!
I was really excited to publish y comic but rn I'm afraid nobody will read it I put so much effort but still :(
thank you sm!!!! those tips are great
It can be scary. Check out this video if you haven't seen it yet th-cam.com/video/PdqFxlvNdkc/w-d-xo.html
I was scared at first to but, i just dived in because it is something i liked to do. Here u can read mine here www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/undercover-demons/list?title_no=571373 u will see it is not perfect i am very happy with it
This video was very helpful. It gave me an idea on how to outline my story. Thank you.
This is a super helpful and fun idea! I've never tried to do a flow-of-thought braindump sort of thing like this, but I've been having trouble working out my comic's plot so I'm gonna try it. Wish me luck :)
Have fun! Let the stupid ideas flow, the more bad ideas, the more likely some of them will be good.
When you come up with ideas for a story and are very excited confident about it but worried about using them, should I put aside good ideas until I get more experience with storytelling or go ahead and use them? I’m worried about the possibly negative outcomes because I didn’t execute the ideas the way I hoped.
Also how do you decide what stories you want to write? I’ve had a lot of ideas for stories but I end up becoming bored of them. Either that or I have some ideas but become indecisive as to which ones I could use first
Sorry if I’m m overwhelming you with questions. I’m just very curious.
You should work on the stories that excite you. A really important lesson for new creators is to realize that ideas aren't precious. Like you said you have a lot of ideas. It's possible the one idea you think is "The One" could be sucky, and the one stupid idea you have will end up being your best story ever. The one thing I would suggest is don't work on a big story for your first projects, work on small ideas. Stories that you could finish in a month, then another that you can do in 3 months, then maybe one you can finish in a year. It's really important that you start getting finished projects under your belt. it will change you whole outlook on creating.
Thank you so much for your videos and tips, your channel is very helpful and I can't wait to watch every single video of yours!
I have a question though, how do you go about documenting your comic drawing tasks so you can see your progress with time?
This may help answer your question th-cam.com/video/H4iy9ej-fuI/w-d-xo.html
@@walterostlie Thank you, it has helped indeed!
“joe feeds of the life force of babies” that is a sentence i didn’t know i would hear in my life lmfao😭
My story got little bits of start up to the end of story in my mind ,but it is still better this way of outline everything . ( Still at coloring episode 3 pages( 2 - 30) , 2 more episode to go with 28 to 30 page each ) still observing how fast i create each episode and make adjustments so i can publish weekly. And i stop my commissions in fiverr so i can focus on publishing my comic 😆
thanks for the tip alwise!
That's really cool that you're putting all your focus into the comic. Have fun!
this what I really need... thank you
Thanks for watching!
haha i literally have ‘make comic outline’ in my to do list today. perfect timing! just wanted to add: every story may need a different type of outline. some projects of mine are just a simple bullet list, others are paragraphs, others are super fancy color coded ones that have illustrations to how it relates to the five act structure etc)
ive wasted so much time trying to figure out The Perfect Outlining Method but i realized i didnt need to do that! just do whatever the story needs right now. (and thank you so much for the upload!)
Nice video! Love the masterpiece :)
I always start outlines and end up abandoning them because I get stuck worrying they are not good. I really need to get over it. It is similar to drawing, you can only improve by trying.
That's right. Make some bad stories, just make them short, so you can finish it and move on to something better. Half finished stuff can leave an impact. Finished stuff leaves a better impact, even if it is a great final product, it is a final product.
Awesome tips, Walter! When I write the stories for my manga projects I usually use Google docs and in the beginning I literally just word vomit every idea that comes to mind 😆
Puke out ideas and hopefully find some pearls in the sick.
another great video. I really needed this because i have a messy outline
Messy can be good sometimes.
These videos are so informative! I feel more confident in getting started with a webtoon after every video!
Awesome, thanks for letting me know they are helping.
Perfect timing! I actually needed this since I know I need to outline but I dont really know how to really start it off! Thanks a lot!
I just came across your channel. I love that you too teach how to write story outlines using Google Docs!
Thanks for making this process less daunting and overwhelming !
Just happy it helped!
Needed this today - I've been scared to start writing the next comic! Thank you!
Thanks for watching and have fun!
4:29 My favorite part.
Wow. I love how you scetch this story out of the blue!
Once you start looking at stories as little pieces, you'll notice a lot of stories share the same pieces, and you can take those and mix and match, come up with something unique. It's like a story salad bar.
@@walterostlie sweet!
thank you sm! it feels like you just moved something that was blocking me from writing haha
Wait, so if Joe becomes the baby, and if I'm the baby and you're Joe does that mean you are me? lol Great vid Walter!
I...yes? Let's see what the outline says....
perfect timing. thank you!
thanks for watching!
School is important.
But Walter uploaded.
Yeet school.
But can you script/write your outline on paper? I just find that more fun hehe..
Of course you can use paper. I'll bring notebooks around with me to jot down ideas. Sometimes I just really need to get away from my computer and technology, so I grab a notebook and pen and go hide somewhere.
@@walterostlie along with a bag of potato chips😂😂.
Omg this really helps !! Thankyou for make this video!!
Glad it helped! Thanks!
Thanks Walter 😊
Thanks for this~ super helpful!
Thank you so much!
LOL that was an excellent story to come up with in the spot! XD
Thanks. All stories have the same bones, you just kinda toss them together in new, fun ways.
Tbf, half of it became the same plot as the 1986 movie 'The Labyrinth', hilarious enough.
Great video. It is very helpful. Thanks.
Yayy! I'm always so excited to watch your videos haha!
Really happy to hear that. Thanks!
always thankful for your videos ! so helpful
Thanks!
This video was both very encouraging and entertaining! I’ve been using the doc format u recommended from one of your videos eons ago (it was about outlining or scripting or both) and it’s been super helpful!
Though it does take time and thought, it’s interesting how quickly a story can unfold from a simple premise! If I have kids, I’ll make sure to watch the moon and how many minutes after midnight it’s been 😂 On a related story telling note, I’ve seen multiple comic professionals recommend completing a smaller project before tackling your 500+ page big dream project. However, I only have story ideas for my big story. What would u recommend, should I try coming up with a new idea for a short story or somehow make a short version of my longer story (woof)
Yes, do something short. It's important to get some finished projects under your belt. Not just for yourself, but to show to the world and get some street cred. Come up some a stupid short story, something you could do in a month or even a week, i don't know your schedule. But get some stuff done. You could always write a short story for your big epic. Like maybe the characters are going to the park in your world. Nothing crazy, just explore the characters and their interactions.
Hey I forgot he video but I commented something about a thing called soul dashers, so I’m gonna make it on a website called tapas.io because it’s free so if you don’t see it on web toon then that’s where it’s at
Thanks walter i needed this
Awesome, the stars aligned!
Easy to understand and also very funny lol, thanks
Thanks!
And than the hard part, to decide that to cut and what to leave... xD i have so many variatiouns of certain stories... i cant decide on one :P
Keep it out or just cut out the stuff you really don't want to draw ;-)
Story coming out next month haha
Hah
Walter, I have a huge problem. my outlines r great one day and the next day I'm making another variation of my story and this keeps on going on and on. Basically, Even after I make an outline, I still get more and more ideas which force me to tweak the whole story all over again. Know any ways to deal with that? Anyways, great vid like always!
Deadlines. Give yourself a deadline. The writing has to be done by a certain time, so you can start drawing by a certain and finish by a certain time. If you're worried about doing that on your big story, make up a small story that you can finish and that doesn't have to be "perfect", just so you can get that feel of finishing something. Once you finish one thing it's easier to finishing another thing.
@@walterostlie ohhhh okok Thanks Walter :D
You’re hilarious 🤣🤣🤣 this was super helpful, thank you for sharing!
Thanks!
This may be dumb but how do you know when it's best to call the outline done and start actually working on the comic. I'm not sure how detailed I'm supposed to go with my outline and how small the details get. Thank you in advance
ur outline is almost demon slayer
Yeah, you should make this story 😁
Too many stories!!!
Meanwhile, me who has written 200 page full book like script thing, (not focus ing on the Grammer or spelling tho 😅) it was fun but it's not the best way as you said, it can turn out bad, I had to write 4 storys each 100 pages, finally, i wrote the 5th story which turned out way batter with 200 pages, more or less don't do what I did people 😂😂
oof, that's a lot of writing. Well, maybe you learned to type faster at least?
@@walterostlie I learned to write with a lot of detail, expression, interwiving plot points and almost got really really good at foreshadowing aswell, as they say " practice makes perfect" I got batter at storytelling in general so I'm in a way happy I did it this way (even tho it's not the best way)
The closest to an outline I have is discord conversations since my webtoon is semi rp based XD There's just so many messages and I haven't written down the keywords... Usually I pick out the messages and alter them for a comic script
That's a fun way to work, does it ever feel too chaotic?
@@walterostlie Oh it's chaos at its peak. We don't even write stuff in chronological order, and everything is formatted like those incorrect quotes on Tumblr. Sometimes I pick an early message and just read through everything to refresh my memory on what already happened and what I can use for the comic. But I never have a clear picture. It's really fun though and I can ramble about the characters to people who are "in the loop" and don't need to watch out for spoilers. Which in the end makes me care less about webtoon subscribers or views since I already have them to talk to about the comic.
These videos are super helpful 😜
Thanks!
This video was low key dark 😂!!
Hah, true.
Yaye! New video to make my day! :'DD
Heck yea!
nice video from behind my new webtoon episode i just shared
Whats you're webtoon?
@@walterostlie The Ordinance ☺️ maybe even if you look at my webtoon in your critic videos, I would be very happy. I would like you to see. www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-ordinance/list?title_no=498893
Hello! I’m a huge fan of your work and your videos! I’ve been writing an outline for a story, but I’m not sure if it will turn out good. Should I write the script for each episode/panel of the entire series before drawing the episodes or should I write/draw a few episodes at a time? Sorry, I don’t know if this is a dumb question.
If you have a solid outline, you can write a few episodes and then start drawing, then write the rest while drawing. You can run into some snags, so it depends on how much you like to think on your feet and be adaptable. If you like to make sure every piece is planned, then write all the episodes first. I usually write the first 10-20 episodes and start drawing. Then I'll stop drawing for a little bit and write the next 5-10 episodes, or whatever the next small story arc involves. I have run into problems or thought of better ideas that I can no longer use because I am too far into drawing/uploading, but nothing's perfect. Have fun!
@@walterostlie Okay, thank you so much! This helps a lot!
"You remind me of the babe."
Oh man, totally forgot about that movie. I've never been able to finish the movie, same with Legend. Yeah, pretty much same story , like most stories ;)
awesome stuff OZ MAN. Sorry im delayed this year. Came outa Covid.
Oh no. Did you have it? If so, I'm glad you're out of it and hopefully healthy. Welcome back.
@@walterostlie Yeah. sadly I lost my family to it so I only have my brother left. going to keep pushing forward and I'm really still trying to one day launch my Webtoon aswell. It was soemthing my family was really looking forward to.
@@licio5823 I so sorry. I'm looking forward to your comic. Take care of yourself.
I spent most of video wishing I could trim that moustache lmao, I should get treatment
alright phew... I'm not doing it wrong.. thanks 🤣
There's prolly no wrong way, as long as it's working ;-)
@@walterostlie I would like to take this opportunity to Thank you a lot for all of your videos and advices! It really helps me a lot writing my story ♥️.
Would you happen to have any advice on creating/drawing the fancy title page thing for a webtoon?
The comic thumbnail? if you're talking about the banner that runs across top, only originals can do it. For the thumbnail, make sure the art style is apparent and that it is easy to see what it's the thumbnail, no complex backgrounds. Remember it will be very small on people's screen, so it has to very clear. For the banner, it is similar, but it can be more complex, you want to show off all the cool stuff in your comic.
@@walterostlie haha I knew my question was hard to understand. I mean the title/logo of the comic itself, that everyone stamps right at the beginning of their comic? I’m really not sure what to refer to it as?? I have very little graphic design knowledge so I’m really intimidated. I hope that clears my question up! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer! I’m taking notes from your other answer too lol!
what is a pencink?
i definitely just start a video on my phone and just talk for minutes at a time about ideas😭
You should try, who knows what you may come up with.
Shoulda been Goblin King Jareth. >.>
Badass
Thanks for watching!
the outline turns dark so quickly
It was just one of those days :)
i love your videos ... and your hair lol!!!
As long as the hair is good, we good.
Dose anyone want to do a comic together ?
Hey I just subscribed because I really love your vids, they are very understanding to me. Also I literally just started with the WEBTOON platform, so I hope my story becomes a success one day.
Thank you very much for subscribing! I hope you have a lot of fun working on your webtoon. What's your comic?
@@walterostlie it’s called The Kitsune and the Wolf, I’m currently working on chapter two.
noot noot
woot woot!
I liked that evil inside baby brother thing, this is right up my alley!
you haven't done any comic critiques lately, will you be doing those in the future?
I have one recorded, prolly go up next week. I am going to start them back up now that I have time to read some comics again.
I'm your 666 like so yea...Hi joe!
ow man, ;-;
F KJG
propechy. Lmao hahaha But I dont know what would I do without you man!