

The question speaks for itself. I have always wondered how many of these
amazing plots just unwind so naturally. Is it done as they go along or do they
have separate _set_ sessions for developing ideas, writing etc. _Not to answer
my question but one would have to assume the latter, I'm just asking how far
ahead is said planning usually done._

For example, when Naruto initially started was there ever a plan to have the
Akatsuki and Pain or have Jiraiya die?


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How far ahead is planning done before a manga is released?


**_This answer began as a comment, but quickly grew to large._**

I'm purely speculating here, but generally most writers would probably have
_chief_ events _planned_ from the start, and fill in the gaps as they go. By
_chief_ I mean turning points that are essential to the story overall. When I
say _planned_ I mean they already know _what_ they want to happen, and how to
achieve it, or at least have a general idea, and perhaps are leaving the
implementation details up for later.

As a case example, from the beginning Eiichiro Oda already had the ending of
_One Piece_ planned out. To this day he hasn't changed this plan, but out of
enjoyment of writing the series he continues to fill the gap from commencement
to terminus. (See: [One Piece#Production -
Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Piece#Production))

That said, nothing would stop a mangaka from totally changing his/her plans
and writing something altogether new _at any moment_. If I remember correctly,
Akira Toriyama had no plans for Vegeta to have any more appearances in the
manga _Dragonball Z_ after his defeat on Earth. But when he saw the great
positive reaction from fans he kept him in for the rest of the series.
Toriyama's original plan is not exactly known, but in the least it had to be
modified greatly to accommodate the new character.

Another factor would probably be the publishing agencies themselves. Obviously
they want to capitalize, and so most often, _more_ is more. If a manga series
is doing very well, they'll probably want to extend it, and so many writers
are pushed to write beyond there original plans. Continuing with the
_Dragonball Z_ example, we can see just that. Toriyama planned to end his work
at the defeat of Cell, but was urged on by publishers to continue, which lead
to the true climax, Buu.

Also, censorship could play a part in some cases. If something written by an
author goes against the standards of either society or the publisher, it would
have to be modified, and even a small change can have great consequences later
on. This of course must take into account creative control, which is an
author-by-author process depending on the details of any given contract.

Again, all of this is nothing more than pure speculation that uses nothing but
perceivable events as evidence. As I find more resources and evidence I'll add
it. Perhaps to try to formalize this as it stands, I'd just agree with
[kuwaly](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/93/kuwaly), and say that it's
all up in the air. Writers, publishers, public reaction, political correctness
and just about anything else could alter the course of any writer's storyline
at any point. I doubt any manga ever turns out exactly like the first draft.


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Just for additional information, usually in the case of release and drawing
(not the storyline), they plan 3-4 chapters ahead, i.e:

  * Chapter 1 is supposed to released lets say this week
  * Chapter 2 is supposed to be printed, shipped etc for the next Week 
  * Chapter 3 is supposed to be editing, liberation, etc
  * Chapter 4 is supposed to be Final Editing
  * Then Chapter 5 is supposed to be the one the mangaka to work on on the week of release of chapter 1.

This is 3-4 weeks or chapter ahead is what usually called by 'print schedule'

But this is all changes depending on the circumstances of mangaka (hiatus, new
year, holiday, golden week, etc)


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