{"id":1917,"date":"2019-01-15T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-15T17:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=1917"},"modified":"2023-12-21T09:46:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T17:46:46","slug":"devourer-of-words-060-the-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/devourer-of-words-060-the-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Devourer of Words 060: The Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MARC BERNARDIN’S DEVOURER OF WORDS<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devourer of Words 060: The Choice<\/h1>\n\n\n
Marc Bernardin<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Toucan<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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It\u2019s the beginning of a new year and if you\u2019re anything like me, you: A) Wonder how you made it through the previous year and B) What you\u2019re going to try and get done this time around the sun. But deciding what you\u2019ll put on the to-do list can be rough. The Paralysis of Choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a lot of questions I ask myself when trying to figure out what\u2019s next:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something old or something new?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve been at this for a while, regardless of the medium, you\u2019ve got ideas you\u2019ve never done anything with. Maybe they\u2019re fully written, maybe they\u2019re in various stages of completion, maybe it\u2019s just a scribble on a piece of paper somewhere. As a writer friend used to tell me all the time, \u201cuse every part of the buffalo.\u201d There\u2019s probably something of value in every old pitch or script\u2014and you\u2019re a different writer now than you were then. Maybe you\u2019re smart enough to make it work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But looking backwards too much can be a trap. You are a different writer now than you were then\u2014and the future is forwards. You need to keep stretching to find the work that only you can do. Finding a balance between the old and the new is tricky, but crucial. Which one is a better use of your time? There\u2019s no easy answer to that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For yourself or for someone else?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Depending on who you are and where you are in your career, this might not be a choice. If you\u2019ve never been published before, your first work is likely going to be for yourself: A piece that you\u2019re doing to help prove that you can actually write comics. Or maybe you don\u2019t have the kind of connections that\u2019ll make work-for-hire possible. You might be the kind of person who has only dreamed of writing Spider-Man or Wonder Woman or Hellboy. And those are valid dreams to have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All things being equal, let\u2019s assume you\u2019re in a place where you can write a pitch for something creator-owned or something company-owned, the real question is, can you afford to bet on yourself? Because if a creator-owned book gets greenlit, there\u2019s no guarantee that it\u2019ll get done on time, that it\u2019ll get done at all or, even if it does hit stands, that it\u2019ll make any money. A corporate assignment will do all of those things: You\u2019ll get paid your page rate and it\u2019ll hit stands (unless the company folds or you get fired, but whatever). You\u2019ll be writing a childhood hero\u2014or someone\u2019s childhood hero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it won\u2019t be yours, soup to nuts. And it probably won\u2019t buy you a house. Not that money is everything, but the only people who get rich in publishing are publishers. There comes a time, in every game, when you realize that being a player is fine\u2014sometimes, it\u2019s even great\u2014but it\u2019s not quite like being an owner. Especially one who still gets to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something big or something small?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Is it time to dig into that magnum opus, that giant project you\u2019ve been wanting to tackle for as long as you can remember? Or are you in a set-em-up-and-knock-em-down kind of mood? There is absolutely something to be said for the joy of completion. The screenwriter John Rogers turned me on to this saying: \u201cDone is the engine of more.\u201d Finishing leads to starting. The more often you can wrap something up, the bigger a pile of completed work you\u2019ll have. And it\u2019ll be a variety of things\u2014like rotating crops, your mind can benefit from having broadened its horizons. Even further, unfinished work does no one any good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But sometimes, you just want to drill down and work on a singular piece. A slab of culture. There is something incredibly attractive about getting lost in a world and finding the story lost within it. It\u2019s an act of exploration, and discovering a new shore can be exhilarating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe all of these won\u2019t be either\/or choices: If you\u2019re prolific, you can check all of these boxes in a year. And none of these questions have wrong answers. Just do what\u2019s right for you \u2026 or write<\/em> for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do love a good pun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marc Bernardin\u2019s Devourer of Words appears the third Tuesday of every month here on <\/em>Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Marc Bernardin<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n