Plan your story before you begin drawing. Create your own storyboard by drawing a line in the center, horizontally, and then vertical lines to break the poster board into eight squares. Sketch a rough idea for your illustrations into each of the squares to help you track the direction of your story.
Draw each panel of the graphic novel, using a blue pencil for this stage. Include the boxes for narration and the bubbles for dialogue. These drawings should be complete except for inking and coloring.
Use India ink to ink the lines of the initial drawing. Go over the lines to enhance depth and shading. If you're doing the graphic novel yourself, you should add lettering and dialogue at this stage.
Scan your images into Adobe Photoshop or the graphics software of your choice. Scan your images at 600 dpi (dots per inch). Touch up your inking before you apply color to your images using the "Layers" menu.
Bring your art into Microsoft Word or another program you can use to create panels, such as Movie Magic Screenwriter. When you've laid your comic panels out and inserted the panel art, you're ready to save to disk and take it to a printer for printing and binding.