To Bendis, Gail, and other comic writers, about fame.

[Corrina]

The price of what, exactly? Getting snark from people on the internet who don't actually write comics? Many of them attacking creators from behind a handle?

I'm going to actually paraphrase a rapper for this. To paraphrase Cage: " I don't care about assholes."

You got 99 problems and a critic ain't one?

[Caley Tibbittz]

Editors also ensure cohesiveness and consistency of style, voice, and tone. In addition, editors work as a grounded, balancing act to writers. One side of the team can be creative and soar, while the other keeps annoying stuff like "How does this fit with what else we're doing?" in mind. They're both essential and necessary, and speaking as a writer, it can be very hard to edit your own work, especially if you have a quick turnaround/deadline or you're writing for a different publication/organization.

Hoping to write for TV someday, I've had to train myself to be pretty quick. And I'm so immersed in what I'm doing that style and consistency aren't an issue. And it helps that I'm not in a team -- it's all just the one guy. It's not the most common situation; with most comics, having an editor definitely helps it all come together better than the creative team might do on their own. They can also be a great prompter in motivating the creators and nudging them about deadlines.

As I've been saying, some editors are necessary and useful and helpful and great, and some are not. It depends on the situation.

Keep in mind who you're talking to; it's less important to him that you give him advice than you listen to him talk.

Dude, c'mon, I listen sometimes. Go back and read everything I've ever posted -- you'll find a few examples.

I've worked with a cluster of editors over the last year; some gave great constructive notes, some were very hands-off to the point of being practically proofreaders, and some apparently wished they could do the work their bosses were paying me to do. I don't regret any of the experience. I do wish that either they or myself had better general communication, but that's true of almost anyone these days.

One can certainly learn something from any of those situations, but the worse ones weren't anything I wanted to deal with. When I feel I'm right about something, I don't like being overruled. There were a couple times while aiding my mom on her advertising presentations that I really had to fight for a point I believed in. Sometimes she still said no and did it her way. That sort of thing is very frustrating.

Later, I was drawing the first issue of what was to be a new comic book series. There was a magic garden in a broken patch of floor in it. The writer described it with fairly standard garden vegetables -- as I drew it, it got more bombastic. I added banana trees. I loved how it turned out, I was genuinely excited. I sent the writer the new pages -- and was told the banana trees looked stupid and out of place. I argued for their inclusion; I was told to erase them and draw something else. I replaced them with corn. I hated it. I hated it so much.

I knew then that I really, really, really wanted to get to work on my own book. The banana trees in the office of my webcomic's main character are there to represent creative freedom. Plus they're really fun to draw.

[Corrina]

So, I don't need an editor. I know what I'm doing. I could use a colorist though -- not 'cause I can't do it, but 'cause I don't have the bloody time.

Uh, good luck with that attitude. I've worked with horrible editors and good ones. The horrible editors you don't want.

The good editors though? Their job is to look at what you were trying to say, the places where it failed, and make it even more awesome. Good editors are gold and to simply shut down the idea of working with one just because you think you know what they do without having experienced working with a good one is...well...short-sighted.

Anne Rice used to work with an editor. Then she decided she didn't need one. There's a reason her later works are much worse than her earlier works.

[Benel Germosen]

You got 99 problems and a critic ain't one?

Hit me!

[Caley Tibbittz]

The price of what, exactly? Getting snark from people on the internet who don't actually write comics? Many of them attacking creators from behind a handle?

I'm going to actually paraphrase a rapper for this. To paraphrase Cage: " I don't care about assholes."

The amount of armchair quarterbacking from comic fans who aren't nearly as qualified to analyze character and story beats as they imagine is staggering. I'm surprised sometimes that fandom in general doesn't simply abandon canonical works altogether and just produce completed non-profit fanfic serials, which other gripey fans could then complain about.

[DAVE]

"fame"?

[Caley Tibbittz]

Uh, good luck with that attitude. I've worked with horrible editors and good ones. The horrible editors you don't want.

The good editors though? Their job is to look at what you were trying to say, the places where it failed, and make it even more awesome. Good editors are gold and to simply shut down the idea of working with one just because you think you know what they do without having experienced working with a good one is...well...short-sighted.

Anne Rice used to work with an editor. Then she decided she didn't need one. There's a reason her later works are much worse than her earlier works.

Not every single creative person is going to need a separate editor. It's a skill, and it is possible to develop that skill and do the editing yourself. It works for me, and I prefer it greatly.

I can be a very loose and flowing creative person, and I can follow that up with being a hardass editor who makes writer-Caley cut out the fluff, even if I love that particular piece of fluff. If I'm over page count and it doesn't move the story forward as much as something else, it goes.

And I've never said that no one needs editors or that they are all harmful, just that they can be more hindrance than help in some situations.

It's not an attitude, it's an approach and observation. It fits my style and skill set. If it doesn't fit someone else's and an editor helps make the magic happen, great. Whatever it takes.

[c. page]

"fame"?

They're gonna live forever!

[Caley Tibbittz]

"fame"?

I saw Bendis' name in the Avengers credits!

[Caley Tibbittz]

Just to clarify, I'm not saying I'm a better writer than most people because I don't need a separate editor. I'm saying I'm a better editor than most writers. Some of my first drafts are hilariously messy and unfocused.