Drawing, Writing or Comics?

Jestro

Jestro
Joined
Dec 27, 2003
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USA
Ok, I'm having this big problem trying to decide which I want to become in my life: A writer, Artist, or Comic book artist/writer...This is a huge problem for me because I would love to devote all my attention to just one (if possible) of these areas.
I LOVE comics! (Mostly 60's, Spider-man ect.)
But now days I'm not a huge fan of modern comics because like somelse said: A big soap opera.
I would LOVE to become a fantasy comic book creator but how long would it last (Would it sell)?
I love writing too. :(
HELP! LoL. any help would be mighty helpful. Thanks
 
Jestro said:
Ok, I'm having this big problem trying to decide which I want to become in my life: A writer, Artist, or Comic book artist/writer...This is a huge problem for me because I would love to devote all my attention to just one (if possible) of these areas.
I LOVE comics! (Mostly 60's, Spider-man ect.)
But now days I'm not a huge fan of modern comics because like somelse said: A big soap opera.
I would LOVE to become a fantasy comic book creator but how long would it last (Would it sell)?
I love writing too. :(
HELP! LoL. any help would be mighty helpful. Thanks
It seems to me that doing a comic book would be the best course, as you would be able to do both art and writing. On the other hand, you could also do illustrations for novels or short stories you wrote.

I don't suppose I'm being much help, am I? I think the best course is to start out doing what you love most. So, create a fantasy comic book. You won't know if it would be a success unless you give it a try.
 
Thanks guys, this has been helpful and I think I've decided to become a writer because 1st: I'm better at writing than drawing 2nd: Writing requires less practice than drawing 3rd: Where you write about (it feels like) your really there! 4th: I just purchased a writing book. LoL, I know it seems like I'm just rambling on but this is really how I feel. :D
Thanks!
 
Writing only seems easier than drawing - but if you find it more natural, there is a sign for you!

I would still suggest you at least keep your drawing hand in, if I may. Being able to express yourself across many media is just more fun, even if one turns out to be your primary mode.

Cheers!
 
become a writer, but continue to practise drawing. then, when you are published, you don't need to hire an illustrator
 
I agree that following both paths is a good bet. become proficient at one, then work on the other. I have an online serial (called Gloom) where 95% of the visuals are done with story telling, but i will be using 3d computer art to build a visual style and atmosphere.
 
Indeed. Frank Miller is well known comic book creator (Ronin, among other things) who does the story and the art, both exceedingly well. John Byrne was writing AND drawing every major DC title for a while there, though I must say I quickly tired of his art, which was technically great but had very little original in it.
 
Being a comic book artist is haaaarrrrddd work (and it's difficult) for miserable pay. If you want to earn decent money, i.e. pay the rent, keep the lights on and put food on the table, you'll have to work to fearsome deadlines and kiss your social life goodbye. Not that I want to put you off, you understand.
 
Being a comic book artist is haaaarrrrddd work (and it's difficult) for miserable pay. If you want to earn decent money, i.e. pay the rent, keep the lights on and put food on the table, you'll have to work to fearsome deadlines and kiss your social life goodbye. Not that I want to put you off, you understand.
Um.... being a writer isn’t much different....
 
Think so? Try drawing your next story and see how far you get.
Why would i? It’s not my medium. In the meantime, writing 100000 cohesive words and editing it is a skill too. This isn’t a competition - none of us have it easy, especially in terms of gaining an income. I have lots of comic mates, the challenges are pretty similar: being visible, getting time to create, getting paid.
 
Why would i? It’s not my medium. In the meantime, writing 100000 cohesive words and editing it is a skill too. This isn’t a competition - none of us have it easy, especially in terms of gaining an income. I have lots of comic mates, the challenges are pretty similar: being visible, getting time to create, getting paid.
I'm not suggesting for a minute that any writer has it easy or is lacking in skill, but trust me, the effort involved in using images to tell your story is may times greater. I'm not entirely sure what the phrase "I have lots of comic mates" actually means, but if any of them are professional artists they'll know what I'm saying is true.
 
I'm not suggesting for a minute that any writer has it easy or is lacking in skill, but trust me, the effort involved in using images to tell your story is may times greater. I'm not entirely sure what the phrase "I have lots of comic mates" actually means, but if any of them are professional artists they'll know what I'm saying is true.
It means I have a lot of friends who draw comics. We respect each other and don’t try to say one form is harder or easier than the other - many of them say they wouldn’t want to write a book instead of draw and vice versa. I wouldn’t even compare effort within art forms because it varies so much from person to person.

You may not be meaning it but your comments are pretty demeaning to the writers here who may well be struggling to complete something.

Like I said above, it’s not a competition.
 
It means I have a lot of friends who draw comics. We respect each other and don’t try to say one form is harder or easier than the other - many of them say they wouldn’t want to write a book instead of draw and vice versa. I wouldn’t even compare effort within art forms because it varies so much from person to person.

You may not be meaning it but your comments are pretty demeaning to the writers here who may well be struggling to complete something.

Like I said above, it’s not a competition.
I don't want this turning into a big deal and it's certainly not my intention to offend anyone. We'll have to just agree to disagree and leave it at that.
 
Being a comic book artist is haaaarrrrddd work (and it's difficult) for miserable pay. If you want to earn decent money, i.e. pay the rent, keep the lights on and put food on the table, you'll have to work to fearsome deadlines and kiss your social life goodbye. Not that I want to put you off, you understand.

I've heard that it can be pretty tight and soulless. Read a couple of histories about 2000AD over the decades and how poorly the writers and artists were paid. I think the current owners, Rebellion, have tried to make it a little easier, but at the end of the day it's a business and sales are down from their peak in the 80's.
You may not be meaning it but your comments are pretty demeaning to the writers

Not really - there's a difference between writing to your own deadlines, and writing to weekly ones imposed by other people who can shunt you aside if you can't make them. I think you're taking it off topic here. :)
 
Back to original thread, if you don’t really want to give up the visual art, you can self publish comics. Maybe do some freebies on YouTube for advertising and set up a Patreon account. Who knows, you may wind up successful with that!
 
Back to original thread, if you don’t really want to give up the visual art, you can self publish comics. Maybe do some freebies on YouTube for advertising and set up a Patreon account. Who knows, you may wind up successful with that!

You know, Patron might actually be a good platform for manga/comics. Because they come out freuquently in small segments, it might encourage people to sponser the authors.

I always saw patron as a poor platform for writers because you dont release parts of the book over time, unless writing episodic intentionally - but episode chapter releases to the patron site would result in a poor story because you cant go back and edit things. You would have to have the entire novel planned out to the letter beforehand, or write it all and then deliberately hold back each chapter and release them overtime.

As for the topic of the thread, the crunch time for manga is insane. Extreme deadlines, especially if you're part of a periodical like shonen jump. Standalone manga gets a bit more freedom for release schedules, some authors only release a couple volumes a year.
 
Not really - there's a difference between writing to your own deadlines, and writing to weekly ones imposed by other people who can shunt you aside if you can't make them. I think you're taking it off topic here. :)

But traditionally published writers do have deadlines. Sometimes quite tight ones. Writers who work-for-hire writing for packagers can be expected to write a book of 70 or 80K in about three weeks. And then when they do meet their deadlines other writers look down on the result (though many readers love the books and keep buying them, or the packagers wouldn't still be in business.) Even writers with much longer deadlines (for writing much longer and more sophisticated books) can lose their careers by not meeting their deadlines. My own publishers were always understanding when I was late, but the weight and pressure of those deadlines and knowing I was not able to meet them and still write a book I could be satisfied with was quite dreadful. Because even if most editors know that creativity can't be turned on and off like a spigot, readers will often drift away if the wait between books is too long, and when the readers drift away the publisher (understandably) breaks off with the writer. Which is why I will never again sign a contract for a book I have not yet written. Some writers thrive on deadlines. I didn't. Some writers would be thrilled to sell books on the basis of a synopsis and get an advance on a book not even written—I realize how lucky I was to be in that position, believe me—but when any creative endeavor is performed on a schedule it can be very hard indeed on the creator.

Also, even self-published writers know that if they want a successful career they need to produce books on a regular basis, at least until they are well-established and wildly popular (if ever).

So I don't think Jo was taking it off topic. She was making a very good point, in that making comparisons about how much harder it is to do what one does oneself compared to the challenges that others face doing something else is not helpful to anyone. Although I believe that her original point was not to dismiss the difficulty of comic book creators but to express sympathy because she knew exactly what the other poster was talking about, having been through much the same thing herself. To be told that she couldn't understand because what she was doing was much easier was dismissive.
 
I you ever think about doing comics, jimzub.com will come in handy. But I encourage you to do the one most pleasurable and less stressful.
 

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