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

[Jonathan Callan]

Actions not words, Caley. I say prove it.

But know that without a little humbleness people are going to want to make you pay for the hubris. And this early in your career, they'll probably be right.

[jason hissong]

Actions not words, Caley. I say prove it.

But know that without a little humbleness people are going to want to make you pay for the hubris. And this early in your career, they'll probably be right.

A new page of his book Emerald Knights is out every Friday!

[Slewo.O]

You realize you're now saying Brubaker needs an editor but you don't.

You just don't get it, James! He's self-taught by the power of will! All Bru did was cut his teeth writing his own underground comics!

[Tyr]

They're gonna live forever!

I believe Gail has already learned how to to fly, its the landing that gives her problems.

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."

Well that's one way of looking at it.

On the other hand.



While yes, some fan grievances are downright irrational. Their are occasions when said backlash has a legitimate reason behind it. Danny O'neil has even come out and said this wasn't his finest hour in comics and was a little embarrassed about it once the criticism started rolling in. Though I don't think it hurt O'Neil's career all that much. However some creators make such a disaster that they never recover from it.

[The Funketeer]

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.

I've suspected the same thing about J.K. Rowling since book 4.

[Jonathan Callan]

A new page of his book Emerald Knights is out every Friday!

Which is very cool. But if we're talking about Brubaker needing an editor and our respective poster not feeling he needs one, I'd say he has quite a bit further to go to "prove it".

A lot of artists start with hubris. Some of it is unproductive, some of it is very productive. But either way, it's a good idea to keep it on the DL when you start. Because most of us just aren't very good in the beginning. Which is not personal. It takes a LONG time.

[TIP]

You realize you're now saying Brubaker needs an editor but you don't.

Listen.

He was Home-Schooled AND his mom told him things!

How can he be wrong?



Oh...right...

[Benel Germosen]

I believe Gail has already learned how to to fly, its the landing that gives her problems.



Well that's one way of looking at it.

On the other hand.



While yes, some fan grievances are downright irrational. Their are occasions when said backlash has a legitimate reason behind it. Danny O'neil has even come out and said this wasn't his finest hour in comics and was a little embarrassed about it once the criticism started rolling in. Though I don't think it hurt O'Neil's career all that much. However some creators make such a disaster that they never recover from it.

Yeah. Hindsight being 20/20 is what it is. But, I think anytime you're writing the story, you really have no obligation to the audience. What you do have is an obligation to write a good story and I think writers know when the story their working on is good and when it's not.

[jason hissong]

Which is very cool. But if we're talking about Brubaker needing an editor and our respective poster not feeling he needs one, I'd say he has quite a bit further to go to "prove it".

A lot of artists start with hubris. Some of it is unproductive, some of it is very productive. But either way, it's a good idea to keep it on the DL when you start. Because most of us just aren't very good in the beginning. Which is not personal. It takes a LONG time.

I agree.

I go back to this often, because I need the reminder. From Ira Glass:

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.

It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

[Pia Guerra]

If you're writing for the fame you're doing it for the wrong reasons.

You do it to tell a story that you feel has to be told. You don't think of "fans" or readers or critics or board trolls, you think of the best way to tell your story. You listen to good advice, especially the ones that tell you to bring it down a few pegs, because you want to tell the best story you can and sometimes ego can get in the way of that.

The idea of NOT doing something you love because of a made up idea of the hassles of fame, writing fame at that, is just very silly.

Write.