Writing vs Drawing

Which comes first, writing or drawing?

I’ve been thinking a lot about my creative process lately. I tend to sketch, doodle and brainstorm all at the same time. I work on paper with Blackwing pencils, extra sharp. When I am doing this I write what ever comes to mind. It doesn’t matter how silly or bad an idea is, I let it flow! It seems to me that my ideas usually come from characters that show up in my sketchbook. Once I have a an idea I start to write out a plot. I’ll figure out the major plot points and then start pacing out the story in a dummy.

When I started writing I made physical dummies. But my last three dummies have been made digitally in Procreate. I like this format because I can zoom out to see the whole story and zoom in to see each spread. I can also move spreads around and copy/past drawings into new positions. I am also able to copy the whole dummy to remake a new version. It also saves paper! I tend to update and edit my writing while I make the dummy drawings. Sometimes I realize that a word isn’t necessary when I see it with the sketches.

I do print out my dummies to make physical paper books. I like to experience the page turns for real. I also export my procreate file as a PDF which makes it easy to share.

What is your process for coming up with stories? Write first or draw first?