Post-Traumatic Tech Disorder

Do you like to inflict pain? Do you like to make people cower in fear? Do you like to torture them? Do you like it when they’re filled with tension wondering what you’re going to do to them next? Do you like to leave people in tears? Do you like to make them double over in pain? Do you like it when they laugh so hard milk sprays out of their nose? Do you like knowing they weren’t drinking milk at the time?

This probably seems like an odd topic to throw into a conversation about good qualities for comic creators, but what it breaks down to is simply…feelings. If you really want to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack, your work needs to speak to people…it needs to make them feel something. You want to tug at their feelings and emotions to provide them with a story so compelling that they won’t want to set it down. Laughter, surprise, humiliation, sadness, horror, terror, fear, trauma, peacefulness, happiness, extreme joy, love, loss…these are just some of the things that grab readers, hold them down, and steal their lunch money. These are some of the things that need to be mastered to help reach your audience.

Most emotional situations are a matter of controlling expectations. But building up those emotions and delivering on strong feelings is an art in itself. That’s why I picked “sadism” to represent this topic. In one session alone, you could let your subject see the weapon beforehand…demonstrate how much damage it can cause. As you set yourself up, they tense their muscles ready for the strike…but their anticipation is met with the weapon slowly, gently caressing their skin. They know it’s there…they know you could strike at any time, so as you pull away, they ready themselves again. But they’re met with whispers this time. You tell them what you want to do to them–just flat out tell them. You encourage them to reach out with their imagination and join you in this runaway fantasy, and they soon get swept away in it all. WHAM! You hit them with their guard down. Now, will they be taken by surprise if you hit them at the beginning next time? How many other variations could you run through to keep a tight rein on their expectations? How many different emotions could be delivered in a manner similar to this? What if that “WHAM!” were a punchline instead (some super-powered types crash through the wall in the middle of a fight and they stop the fight so one of them can snap some pics with his digital camera)? Or a potential tearjerker (pull back to see the video is being played in a courtroom in the middle of a child custody battle as the parent watches their familial hopes slip away)?

But do emotions and feelings have to be so elaborately set up? Nope…and they shouldn’t. If you drag it out every time, people will start looking for it. You need to keep it fresh and exciting, and good emotions can come from a lot of simple things as well. A choice glare here and there from a fiery character, a subtle brush of the hand against a character’s own cheek in remembrance of times long lost, a dark, moody setting to a scene, a slow shift in colors from panel to panel to enhance the shifting emotions, a change in the inflection represented in the words. They may seem like minor things, but in the right situation, they can be just as effective as an elaborate setup (in fact, they can even be part of the setup or the payoff). And these are little things you can learn easily by just watching the world around you.

If people can look at your artwork or read your writing and feel something, they’re going to remember it. Entertainment at its core is a means of escapism…people want to feel new emotions; they want to let their imagination wander through new experiences, new adventures, and new hardships. They want to feel what all of that’s like…because feeling reminds them that they’re alive.

Creating comic books is a “do-ers” job. You can talk about making comics all day long, you can even think about making comics all you want, but all that doesn’t mean a damn if you aren’t actually making comics. I’m sure many have heard this all before, but I’ll repeat it for everyone else. Writers write. Pencillers pencil. Inkers ink. Colorists color. Letterers letter…er…erer…er…visually portray the dialogue and sound effects. And comic books can’t hit the shelves until these tasks are done.

It seems like such a simple concept, but most people can’t follow through on it. Why? There could be dozens of reasons. Most people start out working on comics part-time, so they have to decide whether to spend their free time working that “second job” making comics or goofing off. Things like games, TV, movies, message boards, and home margarita machines easily distract some potential creators. Then, there are a lot of people that find themselves drawn into the frustration of the blank page. And there are also some people that plan and research their work so much they never actually get started with it. Some are just afraid to do the work–so discouraged thinking that their work isn’t good enough that they let fear control them (after all, you can’t fail if you don’t try…of course, you can’t succeed either). If you really want to make comics, you have to work through all that. That’s where discipline becomes important.

But leaping into a tough, disciplined schedule can often lead to discouraging results. We’ll use the old, reliable “exercise and get in shape” analogy here. People make that New Year’s resolution, and the next day, they completely change their diet and hit a demanding workout schedule…they pick up those body building magazines and try to emulate what those healthy people are doing. And then about two to three weeks later, their bodies hit a wall from this drastic change, and they start delaying to get a little extra rest or let other things distract them more readily. Sure, there are exceptions–people that can push through all that and keep to their schedule and diet. They already have the discipline it takes to do that. Everyone else though needs to give themselves a chance to succeed…a chance to take what levels of discipline they already have and build it up to suit their goals.

So, how do you build up discipline? Baby steps. Continuing with the working out analogy, what if those people with the resolutions started out with one change to their diet (switch to artificial sweeteners, just eat more veggies, replace beef with more chicken/turkey, or limit desserts to once a week…just one little thing to start with) and a workout routine 10 minutes long that they did three times a week. It won’t get them the quick results they’re hoping for, but it’s something they can keep up with. When it becomes habit, they can step up a little more (change one more thing in their diet and workout a little bit longer), and eventually get to where the results are noticeable. Instead of forcing a routine on themselves that they aren’t ready for, they develop their discipline to the point where that routine eventually becomes easy for them.

So, when you start off trying to make comics, don’t just gallop out of the gates at breakneck pace. You’re not a pro (yet) so don’t try to keep up with the pros. Don’t even try to keep up with the people you consider peers. Find a pace that’s comfortable for you…one that you can keep up with. When it becomes second nature to you, push yourself a little more. Set yourself an initial schedule that you think would be easy for you to accomplish (when I seriously got back into writing, I started by writing twice a week for at least an hour each time…a pace my life and schedule could easily support at that time). And if you can’t keep up with your schedule, adjust it back to a more comfortable level. The key is to do the work on a schedule you can succeed with and let it become routine for you. Then take the next step…and the next…and the one after that.

Just make sure that your schedule allows you to focus on your craft–whether it’s writing, penciling, inking, coloring, or lettering. You won’t get anywhere working out if you spend your 10 minutes staring at the ladies in the step aerobics class…the same goes here–keeping to a schedule won’t help if you don’t get something done. It doesn’t matter if what you write or draw is any good…just do your best and get it done. You can always revise/analyze it later to figure out what might be wrong with it, but to build discipline for good work habits later on, it’s important to just get the work done. And if the blank page haunts you during this time, find a program or website (or even scraps of paper in a hat) for randomly picking a person, place or thing and go from there or some other kind of warm-up exercise to “stretch” those skills out before getting started.

Yeah, so this article has a bit of that preachy rant feel to it–but discipline’s something a lot of people fail at. And it’s definitely important for anyone that wants to make a career for themselves in a creative field. So, chain yourself to the drawing table or the keyboard and get those whips out now…so you don’t have to worry about missing deadlines later on if some major publisher decides to offer you that big break.

What’s a column that gives out tips, information, and advice without some kind of spiffy acronym? These cute little mnemonic devices are great at giving people’s memories a little kickstart every now and then. I decided to go with an acronym that some comic book creators could easily relate to–BDSM. The following set of articles will show you how these four aspects–Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, and Masochism (yes, I purposely left out the middle “Domination & Submission” part of it just to make it easier to remember) can be tied to qualities important to making comics and breaking in. And remember, this is just an acronym to help you remember these attributes…don’t go out and take chains and whips to the editors out there (and it’s probably not a good idea to approach them at a con in one of those cute leather outfits either). So make yourself comfy (that chair with the large metal rings attached to it should work just fine), and let’s get things started with Bondage!

Bondage: 1: the tenure or service of a villein, serf, or slave 2: a state of being bound usually by compulsion (as of law or mastery)

So, what does that have to do with comics? Well, if you’re looking at “breaking in”, you probably want to work for one of the big publishers. When you work on someone else’s property, you’re bound by their whims and editorial control. Sure, they’ll allow you some creative freedom, but ultimately, the final decision on what makes it to print and what doesn’t is theirs. Sometimes, what shows up on the shelves might not even resemble what you originally intended. Its not slavery or serfdom, but if you’re not prepared for it, it might feel a lot like they’re putting some big old chains on your creativity.

Now, that doesn’t mean they need zombie workers that do whatever they say, but they will need people that can take their vision…their popular, fairly set-in-stone characters and run with them. They need people that can produce exciting work that sells with what they’re given. Some editors might not let you tell the story you really want to tell or let you draw the artwork you really want to cut loose with. But no matter what guidelines or restrictions they lay out for you, they’ll still expect greatness.

On top of all that (this affects the creator-owned/self-published projects as well), you still have to be aware of the boundaries that limit your work through copyrights, trademarks, synchronicity, and the like–the things you have to contend with when working in any artistic field. You have to be able to deal with all that and deliver quality work that has your distinctive style to it…those chains seem to just get heavier and heavier, don’t they?

Can you do the job with your hands tied? How about if you’re also blindfolded, gagged, locked in a moldy chest, and buried under a ton of pickled herring? If you’re flexible and imaginative enough to constantly deliver good work under any conditions, you’ll eventually get that big name and all the extra freedom that goes with it. Editors and publishers like people that will work with them–people that can be thrown an impossible mish-mash of ideas, thoughts, and requirements and honestly reply, “I can do that.”

Sometimes, the little things you do can make all the difference when trying to break in…especially when trying to persevere through setbacks, rejections, and all the crap life throws at you. To help myself out when times get tough, I keep a small journal of quotes and phrases I’ve heard that I find motivational or provide good bits of wisdom in small manageable chunks. It doesn’t take up much of my time–I just write down quotes I like when I find them, but when things start getting bad, all I have to do is read through a page or two of these quotes and get right back to it. It’s not much, but it keeps me going…and that’s the important part. So here are some examples of the inspirational stuff I keep around.

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.
–David Brinkley

If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.
–Mary Pickford

…you should send out, today, the best work you are capable of doing today. Of course you’ll do better a year from now. But a year from now you should be writing the story that you care about and believe in at that time–not reworking this year’s story.
–Orson Scott Card

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.
–Will Rogers

It isn’t what happens to people on a page–it’s what happens to a reader in his heart and mind.
–Gordon Lish

There are times when silence has the loudest voice.
–Leroy Brownlow

The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.
–Winston Churchill

Determination + Goal-setting + Concentration = Success
–Harvey Mackay

Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.
–Victoria Holt

I can’t control the wind, but I can adjust my sails.
–Anonymous

Dig the well before you are thirsty.
–Chinese prover

The greatest test of courage on the earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.
–R. G. Ingersoll

Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, your readers might like it.
–William Randolph Hearst

100 percent of the shots you don’t take don’t go in.
–Wayne Gretzky

You moon the wrong person at an office party and suddenly you’re not ‘professional’ any more.
–Jeff Foxworthy

Collecting little quotations like this is just one of the things I do to help me persevere. I know some people that keep folders of great artwork to scan through when they need inspiration. Some people have music and others might have books of poetry. It doesn’t have to be anything major…it doesn’t have to be something your world revolves around…it just needs to be something that helps you down the path you’re traveling when the road gets a little bumpy. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much at all–maybe just a dangling carrot…cake…with cream cheese icing…drizzled with hot fudge…and toffee sprinkles…with a side of homemade vanilla ice cream…and…