Brutal Tips for Writers

STEP THREE

STEP THREE: Find Your Voice, Dammit.

This is the closest thing to an Oprah moment in this discussion so enjoy it while you can. You need to find out what it is about your work that brings something to the table that is missing in comics. I say this a lot, but it's a fact. There's already a Brian Bendis. There's already a Grant Morrison. You are not those guys. And editors have seen a thousand imitators and are not interested. What do you bring to the table, as a creator? Can you answer that off the top of your head? Have you given it serious thought?

Is your art style unique? Is your viewpoint unusual and compelling? You need to find that thing not because it brings you joy and rainbows, you need to find that thing because you are a salesperson and this is your goddamn PRODUCT, that you have to sell door to door to very resistant editors. If YOU don't know what it is you want to sell, I guarantee you, the publishers don't, either.

I thought every way to tell a decent Fantastic Four story had been told, 'til Jonathan Hickman showed up and destroyed that notion completely. I thought Spider-Man's visual was getting musty and stale, until Eric Canete showed up and made him look like he was freshly minted. Scott Snyder is making me look at Batman as though I'd never read the character before in my life. You have to be able to do that. You have to bring something new. Writers here will say, "Yeah, but it's harder to SHOW that as a writer," and I say yes, it is. A lot. Very much.

Don't come to anyone working in comics asking advice without being able to tell us what it is you think you can bring to the industry that it's currently lacking.