So I think i just went through a bit of a life crisis, realizing that what I came to university for isn't really what I want to do with my life.
I think more than anything I want to work on a cartoon or comic as a writer, but not only do I have no idea how to even go about getting a job like that,I don't really think I have the talent. (Plus from what I gather, the artist is usually far more important when it comes to these works, and most artists can already write at least passably, while many writers can't draw for shit.)
I've thought about making my own webcomic, but again, I'm not really all that skilled in terms of drawing, as I mostly just doodle to put a face to the characters I'm imagining.
Basically I guess I'm more just curious, how the hell does one go about starting to create something or even get involved in the business at all really?
>>81852106
>So I think i just went through a bit of a life crisis, realizing that what I came to university for isn't really what I want to do with my life.
How far are you into your area of study?
are your parents paying or are you on FAFSA?
>>81852122
Just finishing up first year. Parents paying currently.
>>81852135
What's your degree and is there any way you could imagine doing a job related to your course while you work on your comicking skills?
fuck business, its a hoby
Unless you are going into stem and are actually talented, might aswell dropout and do something else.
"the master has failed more times than the novice has even tried."
If you don't have any skill, fine, get practicing. Learn to write, or draw, or animate. Like anything, it's not easy, and you have to put in a lot of time to get it right.
You want to work for the big 2? Move there and get an internship. Bust your ass and get in the door.
>>81852155
Psychology. I am interested in it, but part of my whole crisis was that it occurred to me I don't have a whole lot of interest in the actual careers it would open up. That and I'm likely going to fail some requisite courses do to general apathy.
I think no matter what I do, I'm going to continue to work on my writing and even drawings in my free time.
>>81852165
I get really self-destructive with my hobbies, by which i mean they consume all of my free time and start harming my academic and social life. I figured if I managed to make a job out of it I would be a lot better off.
I used to play dungeons and dragons in my old CEGEP and I would spend hundreds of hours preparing, writing, drawing out the villains and events, while I basically just wouldn't do my homework.
>>81852106
>Plus from what I gather, the artist is usually far more important when it comes to these works
Only if you plan to work in the 90s conic industry
>>81852106
Do you write and draw normally? Or are you just like 90% of the board who thinks: "Oh I could do that."
>>81852106
The creative industry is a very loose one. Ask anyone currently working in animation or illustration and you'll get a different story of how they got there.
Fundamentally, you need to do two things:
1. git gud
2. Know the right people.
While you do these things, you need to be able to support yourself, so don't be afraid to get a job that you can more easily acquire for now. Yes this means you'll have to work on your writing or drawing in your free time. Not a lot of people are prepared to do that, but hey, that's what separates the successful from the rest.
To git gud you need to practise, by doing what you do as much as you can (not 24/7 obviously, but still, very often). Put stuff online so you can receive feedback. Eventually you'll have enough to put in your portfolio. Even if you think what you have is shit, put it together anyway because what you have might be enough for someone out there. Then you can start applying for jobs relevant to what you really want.
To know the right people to you need to stick your nose in the right places. Join forums, follow people on Twitter, like pages on facebook, etc... Also IRL events like animation festivals and whatnot. You can find out about IRL events by following people and social media pages, as I just mentioned.
Also, see if you can collaborate with other people online who are working on a project. That's something you can put on your CV if you word it well enough.
Overall, be loud and determined. If you love doing something enough, everything will fall into place eventually.
>>81852273
I often try to write at least a few hundred words of something a day, but I don't think it's all that good. I have about 14 different comic, cartoon, short story or even novel ideas I've been working on in a google drive.
The reason I already had an interest in making my own comics or cartoons before coming to this board. I have ADHD and had trouble learning to read when I was younger, so comics were really what got me into reading and even writing in the first place. I have more interest in creating comics over say, a novel, because I feel they're more important to me I guess?
As for drawings, I used to be the best artist in elementary school... but when everyone else got better I stayed the same. I cannot draw humans or real life animals for shit, though I'm not exceptionally terrible at drawing monsters and other fantasy creatures.
>>81852395
Thank you for the advice. I think my biggest issue I may have is putting what I do have forward. I'm aware that without feedback I'm not going to improve, but I always feel afraid to share anything creative. (Which is hypocritical I suppose since I despise people who can't handle criticism.).
I'll definitely keep working on my writing and drawing, since I already kind of do that every day, but I'll make an effort to actually put it out there, even if I think it's shit.
I'll also keep an eye out for group projects or collaborations. Even if they go nowhere, it would probably be a good experience to learn from if nothing else.
>>81852559
>I often try to write at least a few hundred words of something a day, but I don't think it's all that good.
That's the most "writer" thing I've ever read.
>>81852588
Haha, maybe, though right now I think I'm more of just an Ideas-guy.
14 different ideas don't mean shit if you can't actually write them well.
>>81852559
Speaking as someone who did join a group project and didn't even get it finished, I can say I still came out of it feeling rewarded with experience.
No problem dude. Yeah I was scared of feedback for a long time, but once you get past the first few hurdles, you suddenly go from fearing criticism to desperately seeking it!
>>81852231
Dungeons and Dragons is an excellent hobby for a writer, I don't know what the fuck CEGEP is, but if you're still friends with that group, you should get back into it. Or just find a new group I suppose.
>>81852106
>realizing that what I came to university for isn't really what I want to do with my life.
welcome to the club:(
>>81852624
Sorry to hear it didn't work out as a whole, but glad to hear it kinda DID work out for you. I'm actually super interested in finding some kind of group project now actually, seems like it could be a lot of fun.
>>81852680
I only stopped playing with those guys since I moved away for university, were going back to it over the summer and thinking about moving to online, since we kind of miss it. I'm the DM who gets criticized in the game for never doing enough combat, having too much focus on character interaction, dialogue, story, ect. so that kind of bodes at least a little well I suppose?
Also CEGEP is a weird Highschool-University hybrid, that exists only in the french-est part of Canada.
>>81852682
Feels bad man, though this thread is making me feel a lot better about it.
From Steve lieber:
>Any tips for an unknown comic writer with no friends in the industry?
In no particular order...
1.Write about comics under your own name. Get into the conversation where people can see it. Start making a rep for being smart about the industry and the medium.
2. Get involved in the business in some manner if you can. If you can afford to take an internship somewhere, that can be a big help. Meet people who make comics professionally. Impress them with your brains, taste, social skills.
3. MAKE COMICS. Start with short stories. It's hard to find an artist who can finish a whole graphic novel without being paid, but an 8 pager? That can get that done. (If you can afford to hire them out of your own pocket they'll get it done even quicker.)
4. Be flexible and ready to write anything. You hear an artist wants to draw a boxing story? Write a boxing story! Romance? Romance. etc.
>>81854009
>Write about comics under your own name. Get into the conversation where people can see it. Start making a rep for being smart about the industry and the medium.
Okay, holy shit, I never thought about that. I can do that.
>>81852106
>How do I get Involved with making Comic and Cartoons?
Attend CalArts.
>>81855936
>not aiming for Les Gobelins
It cheaper too.
>>81852682
>mfw
I want a refund for my life.
>>81852106
As a writer who is somewhat in the same boat I've learned alot in the few years I've been doing comic writing on the side. Now I may have not completed anything yet but after joining projects, groups and forums I've learned three key things.
1. Be sociable, show that you're a good or fun person to talk to. Don't always talk about your work first, complement someone on theirs and see where the conversation leads. If you get the chance to talk about it then go right for it.
2. Your wallet speaks highest for you. When you're a comic writer lets face it no one wants to do art for free. Either you can pay people (which yields the best results) or try to befriend someone and see if they'll do it for free (this is the worst decision in my opinion).
3. Take chances. Seriously if you see something that may help you as a writer be it a group, a forum, a post or a potential person to talk to then take that chance. Get your work out there, get people interested and you'll get some good experience in the long run.
Around 2 years ago I decided one day I wanted to start writing comics. Had no idea at first but I began joining groups, making other writer and artist friends, talking to people more and saving up money to pay artists.
The result now? A few months ago I snagged an artist for a superhero project I'm working on with some people (still going) and I began talking shop with him on the side. We both found out we had the same interest in a genre of comics to write, he told me his idea and I told him mine then we talked shop about how we should improve them. During that conversation I also found out he did some Transformers comics in the past and some work for Marvel. And now he really wants to work with me on my idea even started work on the promo page.
>>81856882
What kind of groups did you join? Where did you find them?
>>81852106
OP you are literally me right now, so I will also be watching where this thread goes like a hawk.Though I do actually want to finish my Psych degree
>>81852106
I went through the same thing, still am. It's never too late to learn how to draw as long as you're willing to grind from nothing.
we should all work on something together
>>81858732
It never works.
>>81858732
Take it from me, I was asked to join a comic group that would make a bunch of comics related to one thing on Facebook.
Most every other artist waitied for someone to start the heavy making and barely anyone did anything, and then when it died they blamed everyone else.
These projects are as good as thier weakest link, and in the art world, where you have a tonne of unmotivated or lazy people, there's a lot of weak links
>>81858238
I joined digitalwebbing forum to find artists and the 'connecting comic writers and artists' group on FB
>>81858822
Oh yeah?
>tfw left university engineering program to become an artist
>not actually a good artist but getting better
>have literally 0 idea what I'm going to do in the future
>probably won't have a stable anything and will end up a loser because the only thing I'm motivated to do is art
>>81858925
True that
The comic project group I'm in now, the only reason it's still alive is because the team is small and actively writing shit. All the artists on it are paid by us from the outside (we had artists who joined for free and left after a week or so even though they had work to do, we now only work with artists we pay). I found that the writers often have the strongest drive if they're working in a group actively while artists just seem to get bored too easily, money seems to be the best motivator for an artist in my opinion which I can't blame them for. If I was taking hours to draw several characters for a comic and that's time out of my day then hell I'd want to be paid too.
>>81858960
>left engineering to become an artist
I'm sorry but are you fucking retarded? There's a reason people make so many jokes about artists starving and being poor. You should rarely ever turn something that's your hobby into your career.
>>81859104
Hated doing it, simple as that. Could stand doing it at school what makes you think I could do it for 2/3 of my day 5/7ths of the week? Being happy is what's important I'd like to think and shit was made me miserable and it was tedious as hell.
>>81858960
You can always make porn of your Patreon supporters' furry OCs, that's literally a failsafe
>>81858949
Old /a/ and current /co/ are about as different as visual novels are from comics.
>>81859170
But why not do another career that could actually promise you a job in the future and just do art on the side? I understand that you like doing what you want but you still gotta eat and set yourself up in the future. Art isn't gonna give you that shit unless you make it in the long run, you should still do art but at least do something else on the side that will give you a decent income so you can keep doing art.
>>81858949
know what that cast needs?
symbiote
fixes all your cripple needs
>>81859252
I don't care about anything else honestly. Graphic design is neat I guess and I was a solid programer when I put in the work but I'm not crazy about programing and graphic design doesn't pay all that well either. A lot of things happened in a short period of time during my second semester of college were I realized that I only have 1 life so I might as well chase dreams and pursue what really matters to me. I understand money is a necessity but I can't stand to not do what really matters to me. I don't think I have it in me to waste the only life I have on shit that I don't care about.
>>81859291
How he get crippled again? Was peter involved or did it happen in a war. I always forget.
>>81859464
War.
Eddie's the one who blames Peter, Flash likes him.
>>81859516
Then Eddie turned white and stop blaming people
>>81859544
And then he turned red and went back to that.
>>81858949
>>81859291
>>81859464
>>81859516
>>81859544
>>81859566
COMICS, and how to make them
>>81859024
cool
i need to join a comic group soon
paying artist is important
Switch to english and make your own classes centered around comic books for all electives and requirements where it can work (modern authors, american lit post 1900 etc)
