The Future

[the_gneech]

I am pondering my career ... or I should say, my various careers ... and since it sometimes helps put my thoughts in order to write them down, I'm doing that here. All of the following is a thought in process.

CARTOONING
Where is there to go from here? Is there an "onward and upward" for my work, or have I reached the pinnacle of where I can go with SJ/NN? Mainstream syndication would require changes that I'm not interested in making, and without the resources of a big syndicate, making money at all, much less "big money," is a remote possibility. Heck, even the big syndicates have a track record of about 1/1000. That leaves cartooning more or less a permanent hobby ... which would be fine, if it didn't eat all of my free time -- which is time I need, in order to make whatever will be my real career happen.

The cartooning does provide tremendous rewards: I bring smiles to thousands of faces (thousands ... wow!), I've met all kinds of very cool people, I've actually experienced "having fans" (I have fans???), I've had lots of fun, I've learned all sorts of surprising things about myself. I don't want to lose that. But it also has a very high price tag -- in that it is a rapacious monster, a hunger that never dies. Tomorrow's strip is always due.

WRITING
Writing has more monetary potential. A popular series writer like Terry Brooks or Robert Jordan makes a good living -- not a huge one, perhaps, but better than foaming cappuccinos, anyway. And, it's a living doing something that I am going to do anyway, which is a key aspect.

However, fantasy is a crowded field. I've made a name for myself online cartooning, but that's largely because I got in early, had a reasonably decent product, did a lot of shameless self-promotion, and have stuck with it. I'm a big fish in a very, very small pond, in that regard.

Fantasy is a whole other creature. How many thousands of burgeoning Tolkien-wanna-be's are out there, churning out whole books in the time that it's taken me to just work on the Ethangea revisions? Having a reasonably decent product isn't going to cut it in fantasy -- I have to be good, and I have to find a way to get noticed. I have my work for White Wolf and West End to my credit ... I can impress gamers by saying I've worked on Mage and The World of Indiana Jones ... but fantasy is a much larger pond, and I am still a very small fish indeed.

The problem is one of logistics ... like so many things, it purely boils down to resource management. Time, even though there is always more, is the most finite resource in the universe.

If I do my cartooning, I cannot write -- or at least, not on a scale that will actually go anywhere towards providing me a living.

If I write, I cannot do my cartooning -- or at least, not on a scale conducive (sp?) to maintaining or even building a larger audience.

I must choose.

Which arm do I chop off, the right or the left?

Of course, the dream answer is to write as my "day job," and then do my cartooning at night and on the weekends. I thought about pursuing that idea while I was living off of my LifeMinders severance pay ... but it would require more time than my severance would have allowed for, and I was still dealing with other issues at the time.

I have had people offer to give me room and board while I work on making said dream a reality. Laurie has actively researched what it would take for the two of us to live purely on her salary. But I'm just not happy with that ... I feel like it puts me into a debt situation that I have no way of repaying. And also, I am notoriously flaky; if I find myself in the position of having my needs provided for me by someone else, I'm afraid I'll turn into a permanent mooch, always sitting around the house waiting for "the big inspiration."

I suppose it might work if it was done for a finite, planned amount of time ... "From June 2002 until July 2004, you will write. At the end of that time, you must have completed and sold or at least be in serious negotiations for one novel, and have made significant progress on the second. The compensation will be X amount of the royalties for the first book, Y amount for the second, and Z for the third. Consequences for failing to live up to this agreement are A, B, and C." That way, it's at least a business deal -- one tangible, specific item exchanged for another, as well as a pre-agreed compensation for if I should flake.

However, there is the matter of my own comfort level to be considered. I am so very, very tired of living on the edge of my finances. For a few happy months at LifeMinders, I not only got out of debt, but had a nice reserve of cash starting to build up. I didn't have to worry about what happened if the car broke down, or put off buying shoes until a few paychecks had come and gone. I don't particularly care about having a big house or a fancy car, but I do want to have a certain standard, and I also don't want to have to think about it. I am rotten with numbers; they stress me out and make me go all frothy-frothy. Being provided with room and board will keep me alive, but will also keep me constantly stressed out.

Life for Laurie when our finances are on the edge is also not exactly fun. She gets upset about the bills, or the funny noise the car is making, or something similar, and starts looking for things to sell, things to do without, or trying to find a new job ... all of which has more or less been squeezed down to about as efficient as they're going to get any time soon -- so she gets frustrated and irritable. Which means that me just having room and board and no more equals an unhappy Laurie.

*sigh* I miss my LifeMinders pay. Not the job particularly ... just the pay. And I don't see any way I'll get that again in the forseeable future. My IT/graphics/etc. skills are already out of date and just getting rustier. Which leads to another possible future:

THE QUIET DESPERATION MODEL
Another option which I'm not real happy with, but which may be one I simply have to suck it up and take for a while, is to shelve both the cartooning and the writing. That will suddenly free up huge blocks of free time, that I could spend upgrading my skills and looking for what less-than-charitable people might call "a real job." I got as far with my java training as I can get out of books ... I'm going to need classes to go there. But is that a growth field?

The truth of the matter is, I have no idea what sort of a "real job" I could do any more. I got so burned out at LifeMinders that it's negatively effected my ability to concentrate on topics that don't actively interest me any more. When confronted with the question, "What do you want to do for a living?" my instinctive answer is, "Gawd, I don't know, it all sucks." So maybe I should just find one that doesn't suck as much as some others, and pays $50,000 a year. But I don't know what that one is. I'm open to suggestions.

I guess I'm going to have to go do some research on this subject, or find a career counselor, or something.

Some things I do know:

1. I cannot let myself get back into debt.
   
2. I need to have disposable income again.
   
3. When I get to that stage, I need to get an accountant and/or financial planner.
   
4. Once I have an accountant and/or financial planner, I need to start creating "passive" income -- i.e., investments, royalties, and so forth ... money that builds on its own without me fussing over it.
   
5. The next time I find myself suddenly flush with cash but without a job, I need to find another job right away, instead of assuming I'll be able to get one when I'm ready, just because I never had trouble before.
   

Oh well. Back into the breach, dear friends. Catcha later.

-The Gneech

Comments

Word of warning

[foxcutter.livejournal.com]

... "From June 2002 until July 2004, you will write. At the end of that time, you must have completed and sold or at least be in serious negotiations for one novel, and have made significant progress on the second. The compensation will be X amount of the royalties for the first book, Y amount for the second, and Z for the third. Consequences for failing to live up to this agreement are A, B, and C."

Just a word of warning. Something like this isn't going to work very well. First, it's going to probably take you a bit longer then you suspect to get a book sale. You'll could end up writing one or two full novels that get rejected before anyone get's interested. Or end up reworking one novel better and better. Which actually can work to your advantage.

One of my writers I talk to regularly at a con got his first book sale on only a couple chapters (mind you, they were the first couple chapters of his fifth re-write). But he also did a lot of cons, and talked to a lot of other writers.

You might want to look into a writers contest (if the comic strips don't DQ you). Some of the larger ones, if you do well in, it will help a lot to make a name for yourself. Having 'won second place in ' on your cover sheet will give me far more inclination to be interested in you.

Now, if memory serves, fantasy is one of the places where you can break in with a novel, but don't let that stop you from submitting short stories to fantasy magazines. And not 'zines, but actual publications. Just make sure you don't do to well, and end up DQing yourself from your writers contest of choice (part of the reason I'm not doing short story submissions).

As for balancing your time between cartooning and writing... I wish I could give more advice there. I suspect having Katayamma coloring SJ for you saves some time. I've been thinking of ways I could help with NN, but coming up blank (about the best I could come up with is trying to ink it for you on the computer, but I'm not sure that would be viable).

And there's another question, what takes the most time in doing the comics? The writing, drawing or inking? Depending on which it is, you might be able to get away with batching up some of the short operations. Like writing a week or two of scripts on one sitting for a comic. Or drawing or inking a couple weeks worth in one go.

Just a few thoughts and Idea, I hope they can help you.

--Fox

Re: Word of warning

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Hmm ... what do you mean by "DQ?" -TG

Re: Word of warning

[foxcutter.livejournal.com]

Oh ya, DQ is short hand for Disqualify.

--Fox

Re: Word of warning

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

You could always submit to contests etc. under a pseudonym that will prevent the judges from becoming biased...

Amazing....

[murrrmaiyd.livejournal.com]

<< She gets upset about the bills, or the funny noise the car is making, or something similar, and starts looking for things to sell, things to do without, or trying to find a new job ... all of which has more or less been squeezed down to about as efficient as they're going to get any time soon -- so she gets frustrated and irritable. >>

Wow! You have just described Bob exactly!! Without any exception, that is exactly the way he is. :)

Mur

Thinking much the same thing

[jamesbarrett.livejournal.com]

I hate to admit this, but I have been having related thoughts, especially today. I'm getting tired and disillusioned with work lately. I've been waiting tables for 7 years and waiting tables at Ruby's for 3. I'm reaching the point where I get up for work and graon because I'm going to do the same damn thing again.

I need a change, but I really don't want to leave Ruby's. What I really want is to become a full time writer, but I need more practice at that. I just got back into it. I'm not ready. That doesn't stop me from wanting it. I know I can do it, if I put my mind to it.

As this thought is newer for me- I just started letting yself think it, I don't have as detailed a rant on it as you have here, but your thoughts are close to what I am now thinking. My advantage is I don't have anything I'd have to give up. I don't draw cartoon like you do. That means less people are aware of what I am doing. Plus, I have no hope of doing it without working. I'm hardly making ends meet right now because work is so damn slow. My best option is to move upward into management, but that would give me less free time, not more.

I wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow. I'd rather write and write tonight, but I just don't have the time. -Frisk

Work, Write, Draw -- pick any two

[level-head.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that getting your work noticed is a necessary ingredient to your success. However, such notice comes primarily from your work on the strips.

Working as a writer is going to be eventually rewarding, but will require more self-discipline, self-denial, and perseverance. And as you said, this is a more crowded field, and it will become more so. Moreover, writing is a lonely endeavor. I don't think that you would happily accept a life of loneliness.

Once you have achieved a certain level of financial success from other endeavors, you will be free to do other things to a larger extent of your time. But I would suggest that your current strategy include keeping up with at least one of your existing strips, and perhaps both.

First of all, I honestly believe that "Never Never" has potential as a movie along the lines of "Shrek". (Not exactly the same, but with a feeling halfway between "Shrek" and "Harry Potter"). Some work toward that end would be a good investment.

Secondly, "The Suburban Jungle" is a candidate for episodic television. The expression "Friends with fur" is not exactly right, but TSJ is aimed at a higher level than is NN, and would be appropriate to become a television sensation and much talked about.

The pay-off for novel writing, or even shorter stories, is more long-term -- both finanically and emotionally. I perceive that both aspects are important to you.

Compared to story writing, your comics are:
(1) good for your self esteem
(2) good for making connections to people (some of which can help you)
(3) good for short-term feedback
(4) geared to small daily goals
(5) starting from a substantial history
(6) good for developing discipline
(7) able to avoid the "endless revision" process.

One of the difficulties you face is time constraints. I suspect that, if you decided to make this a priority, you could speed up the process of creating your strips. You've seen others, such as Vince Suzukawa, who jam out strips at an impressive speed. I think that some creative techniques can be applied, along with some practice focused on the goal of speed, that will work well for you in this.

The faster you get in the comic work, the more time you will have for writing pursuits. But I would even split that up into writing in support of your comics -- screenplays and treatments -- and then writing to develop other stories such as Ethangea and Iskedium.

The effort that you put into these comics will pay off in ways that you are not currently anticipating, and they have already done good things for you.

And I predict that, one day, they will solve your monetary situation as well.

Write On, m'man!

===|==============/ Level Head

Re: Work, Write, Draw -- pick any two

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

There are also "immediate needs" vs. "long-term needs" that I need to address. Yesterday, I got my paycheck for two weeks of work. Before I had even deposited it, I'd spent ~60% on a new pair of boots. And while yes, they were expensive boots, they weren't that expensive -- my current pay is just that low.

DragonCon, AnthroCon, and Further Confusion are vital parts of my career plans for both cartooning and writing -- and I will not be able to afford any of them on my current salary. It is beginning to look more and more like I need to put all such pursuits into a holding pattern and turn my attention to getting my income back up to something decent, sooner rather than later.

I suspect that as soon as the crossover with TCM is done, I'm going to cut both strips back to a very restricted schedule, restrict my writing to five hours or less a week, and do some heavy duty vocational training in something that pays immediately up front. Otherwise, the strips and/or writing will have nothing to live off of during the time they require to continue to mature.

Frankly, I resent this -- but I imagine the people who lived through The Depression resented that too. Life is an exercise in achieving as much as you can with the resources you have at your disposal. The cons are a necessary part of the creative process, and they require money. Until the creative process starts paying for the cons, something else must. To get something that will pay for the cons, and pay the rent, I must do vocational training, which means the creative process must wait.

*#&$ dot-com crash. >:( I had all this worked out, once upon a time.

-The Gneech

Re: Work, Write, Draw -- pick any two

[level-head.livejournal.com]

There is good news and bad news.

The bad news is that your efforts at self-training may not, in fact, actually improve your job situation all that much.

The good news is that this really means that excellent jobs are available to someone who is bright, articulate, and persistent, and these things have nothing to do with knowledge of Java or related matters.

Your job is out there, they just haven't met you yet. That job will let you use the talents you have now, allow you to grow more talents and skills, and give you enough revenue and time to do the other things you want to do.

I predict that it is three jobs from now, each one better than the last. I expect that this will take you about 15-18 months to accomplish. At your age, a piece of cake -- you could do it standing on your head. Also, that you will have this most excellent job only about three years until you are able to derive all of your income from your own creative talents-based business, and that this will be done in a reasonably stress-free way.

Ah, to be young like that again... ;)

Most sincerely,

===|==============/ Level Head

Re: Work, Write, Draw -- pick any two

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Your optimisism is at once sickening and inspiring. I don't know which reaction to have first. :)

I admit, I'm a horrible pessimist, but that web site Gneech referred to a while back is doing its work in my head, slowly but surely. We'll see what happens. :)

Now, if I could get a job that would pay for my Master's degree and give me some money to spare...

Re: Work, Write, Draw -- pick any two

[jamesbarrett.livejournal.com]

There was a time I could have honestly called myself a Fatalist. Fortunately, I grew out of that, but sarcasm is still my weapon of choice. I, too, am seeking ways to improve my revenue. Being a waiter can suck financially. People seem to think I make an actual hourly wage sometimes. I do not. I live directly off whatever you leave as a tip, you stingy bastards!

Sorry. Slight rant there. I'm okay now. -Frisk

Re: Work, Write, Draw -- pick any two

[level-head.livejournal.com]

The fact that you replied to my post, and referred to The Gneech in the third person, makes me think that you are talking about me. ;)

===|==============/ Level Head

Re: Work, Write, Draw -- pick any two

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Yes I was, but I have since apologized for the offense of this post. I should delete it, but that would also delete yours and Frisks, I believe. That would be bad.

Re: Work, Write, Draw -- pick any two

[nekomimikun.livejournal.com]

Well, you can always get guest strips.
Or have some guest artists for a while.