column_breakout.gifCreating 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.