I’ve officially entered the final stage of working on my graphic novel (I’D LIKE YOU TO LIKE ME, SPRING 2026!)…❤️coloring❤️! This is absolutely my favorite part of making comics, and it might be the only part of the process that doesn’t feel like I’m shoving my brain through a meat grinder. Y’know, in the best way possible.
I thought I’d share my general writing and drawing process from start to finish for a spread in ILYTLM. I’ve always found it interesting and helpful to read about other author/illustrator’s processes, so hopefully others will feel the same about this post! I’m very much an open book (no pun intended) about how I work, so feel free to ask any questions in the comments at any point, and I’ll do my best to answer.
Outline the story.
I am bad at this. My brain does not work in a beginning-middle-end kind of way when it comes to stories. Instead, I like to write scenes and then piece them together in what hopefully is an interesting way…and then I get a lot of help from editors :) (Side note: I’m convinced I wouldn’t have been able to write my book at all without Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Fleabag Series 2. It seems she has a writing process similar to how my brain works, and I’ve memorized every writing tip of hers that I could find on Google.)
Write the script + divide into comic pages.
I’m pretty sure that every graphic novelist has their own way of approaching this stage. I found that writing what essentially is a film screenplay makes the most sense for me. I use the program Scrivener!
After I wrote the screenplay, I roughly marked up the script into what will become the separate drawn pages (in red below), just so I could estimate how long this thing will be (282 pages!). I chopped and rearranged and edited chunks of this as I went along.
I also numbered every bit of dialogue (which you can automate in Scrivener!) so that I could just write the corresponding number in the speech bubbles in the thumbnail sketches (which will be explained shortly) instead of having to rewrite every single “spoken” word.
Create a book spread template.
I initially figured out the size of the pages in inDesign and then brought it into Photoshop so that I could fit 16 pages/4 spreads into a single document.
Sketch out pages.
Thumbnail sketching is not supposed to be pretty. Even knowing this, I kept swinging between being excited while sketching and being super discouraged. But what truly matters with this stage is figuring out the pacing of the story as well as each page’s composition.
This part of the process was more brainwork than drawing work, and it took a deceivingly long time to figure out (for me at least)!
Below are the corresponding thumbnail sketches for the portion of script show previously:
Draw the line art.
This part of the process is somehow my least favorite. Which is ironic, because literally it’s the backbone of a graphic novel. I think maybe I just put too much pressure on myself?
I think I read somewhere once that making comics should take only 30% of your drawing ability. Readers are going to spend, like, two seconds at most on each panel, so what matters in the end is that the drawing is legible.
(Please note that the font is not final! The lovely designer that I have the pleasure of working with, Sylvia Bi, is creating a font out of my handwriting.)
Color everything in!
Again, this process is different for everyone! I’m using Procreate on my iPad Pro to draw and color this book. I’m a simple gal when it comes to using various Procreate tools: I use a “Charcoal Pencil” brush for line art, and the majority of color is done using a brush called “Tinderbox”.
Personally, I plan on using a handful of limited color palettes throughout the book, instead of just one palette for the entire story. Color is such a huge part of my process in general for art, and I really believe that the entire mood of a page can hinge on those choices. I’m a sucker for Color Theory and its meaning throughout art history.
For example, a golden background in Byzantine art often symbolized a transcendent, divine light or invisible world. I’d Like You to Like Me’s main character, Meg, sees her romantic interest, Danny, in a similar light.
In addition to finishing up this story, I’m currently brainstorming and outlining my second book. I’m curious if my process will change at all! There’s always something to learn, y’know?
Thanks for reading!! Sorry for any and all grammatical errors! xoxo
Illustrating a graphic novel seems like such an overwhelming task, but this breakdown is so fascinating and helpful! Thank you for sharing your process in-depth!
I always love seeing other artists’ script processes!