Brutal Tips for Writers

STEP ONE

STEP ONE: Consider Reality.

You are talking about breaking into an exclusive group that has a surplus of people applying for every paying assignment in a niche industry where tastes change like the whisk of a second hand. If all you know about being a pro comics writer is what you see at cons, in interviews, and on message boards, yes, it looks like a good laugh, and no, it's not like digging ditches. But you are never off the clock. Deadlines never stop, never go away. You can do your very best work and have it demolished by a mistake in the printing. The more you care, the harder it is.

The reality is different than the fantasy. It's hard, and breaking in is really hard. And freelancers usually have to pay their own insurance and have few benefits that most employees receive, and little to no job security. Weigh all that carefully. Think if you want to put your family through that. An editor can take you off a book without thinking twice. Most people breaking in make very little money at first and many never REALLY achieve financial stability. Some of the all-time greats in comics? They're still alive, and can't get work in the field they helped build. I keep wanting to tell the positive side, but odds are, you already know the positive side. Give this a thought, a long, solid thought, before jumping in. It's a tough business, a fluid business. It's a great business, but it's not somewhere coasting is allowed.