To be fair- there ARE things in storytelling which have worked time and time again, whether they be actual storytelling techniques or formats of scripts or “rules” to laying out a sequential page so that it’s easy to follow. Those time tested methods are used every day in Professional Comics—in part because they “work” and in part because when you are on a deadline, you often don’t have the time to reinvent the wheel… Point being, if you find those things helpful then by all means use every tool you have available to you. And don’t be afraid to read up on what other people recommend or to ask other creators what they do. It never hurts to have all your options open, and knowing what worked for someone else may give you an approach you never thought of.

Say, however, that everyone is pointing you do to things one way and you see another direction you would rather go in. Again- if the end product is a comic that works for the reader, then go for it. And how will you know that? Trial and error, of course… the same way that EVERYONE learns how to find their creative voice. Truth is- nobody ever bats 1000 out of the gate. We all need to improve and get better when we start out, and truthfully, we all need to CONTINUE to improve or our skills tend to stagnate. But the thing to always keep in mind is that the worse thing in the world is NOT doing a bad Comic. The worse thing is to NOT do one at all because you aren’t “good enough.”

Of COURSE you aren’t good enough! How CAN you be if you aren’t constantly doing the grind of Comics? Think of Peter David as an example- at times, it has seemed like half of everything on the stands was written by Peter David. Is he “better” than you in some way? No… but he is a person who has been fortunate enough to write MASSIVE amounts of Comics for a living. The act of doing so much writing did 2 major things for Mr. David: It allowed him to sharpen his skills daily, and it allowed him to toss a sucky script in there from time to time without anyone beating him for it. While you physically may not have the time to write all day, every day but if you push yourself to be somewhat prolific you will reap the same benefits.

Don’t sit around and think that “someday” you will be doing Comics, unless you are doing Comics EVERY day or as close to every day as you can. Who really cares if you spend an hour making a Mini Comic because that’s all you can do? Do that every damn day and you will have stacks of Mini Comics to show for your efforts and if you are working at it as a Craft, those Comics will become progressively better and better. There IS no “Magic” in making comics. All that exists are those who put in the sweat and those who do not.

Will sweat make you “Rich” and “Famous” someday?

Who knows?

But what I can say is that wasting time is wasting time—if you have an idea for a Comic, either jump on it yourself or get with other people who you like working with and make it happen. Don’t worry about printing and distribution and all those “look up my sleeve” type things that, while practical, are leading you away from the fact that YOU can make comics. Get your comic done and ready to go and worry about what will happen when you have something in hand. Believe me- having finished work gives you tons of options that simply having an “Idea” does not.

I make comics—not because I am “better” than you, but because I want to and I am not about to wait around for someone to “bless” my ideas. Will I ever work for someone else? Sure. I hope so, actually. It would be fun to “just” write and not have to do all the other things involved with making Comics happen… but in the meantime, I am not going to wait for someone to give me the right incantation to make my Comic book efforts “Magical.”

As for you—you can do one of two things. You can make Comics and try and possibly Fail, or you can dream about making Comics and NOT make them and Fail every time.

Your call.

I have to go make Comics because Comics won’t make themselves.

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