Do realist articles help or hinder the artist?
I was reading a thread over at my main hangout, Absolute Write, that pointed to this article on comic book artists and writers. I found it to be kinda a downer. Do we, as artists, need to be reminded how hard it is to break into markets?
Most of the time, I’d have to say ‘no,’ but, I guess these types of articles are helpful for those who have pie-in-the-sky dreams; it gives them a glimpse of real life. It’s always good to be realistic, especially in this business.
I think it’s kind of ironic that the author is telling his readers how hard it is to break into comics, but then he turns right around and says, “But I got lucky. I found Bluewater Comics, www.bluewaterprod.com, an independent comics publisher.” Even though he says in the paragraph right above this one, “I decided to break into writing for comics. It didn’t help that I can’t draw a thing.” Umm…I would think it would be easier if he could draw, but he still got a publisher, and he’s still complaining about the industry?
The end of the article does have a good point, though. I think it is important to love what you’re doing enough to stick with it even though there is only a sliver of a chance that you’ll make it someday. As PeeDee over at AW says, “-write like a man playing blues on a street corner. Maybe that's just a southern reference, but I think it holds: Write like you're boogie chillin', not like you want to be a superstar.” If you put your heart into your art, one day something may happen.
