How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
There are no shortcuts to writing and drawing a graphic novel. And believe me, I’ve looked everywhere!
I tend to let stories simmer for a long time, adding elements as I come across things that might fit in. When it comes to writing the script, I want to get a first draft done really fast. I skip around in the script, writing scenes and dialogue as I think of them, approaching the story from multiple angles. I tie up all my scenes at the very end, often with the use of staples and duct tape. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Then I put the thing away. For months, actually. I do other stuff, work, play with my kids.
Then one day I pick up the script, with sweaty anxiety. Surprisingly, reading my story again is usually quite enjoyable and fills me with enthusiasm about the project. Seriously! Maybe I’m just blind to my own faults, but I like reading my own stuff. Other writers tend to get depressed and start picking the thing apart halfway through a story. It’s never good enough, there’s always stuff you can change, do better.
Sure you can.
You can also look at the story, and decide it is what it is and finish the damn thing. For me, there’s really no going back. Of course I tweak and adjust and do some rewriting along the way, but the basics are all still there. You can’t keep changing your story, because you keep changing as well.
Get. It. Done.
Stubborness. That’s the secret ingredient for me.