My plan of posting drawings on the other three days a week is coming to an abrupt end. I’ve decided that my time would be better spent writing more.
I remember when I first started working on my artwork, I used to look at it like training, and I’d try to spend a minimum three hours a day on it. I’ve kept trying to do that, but lately I’ve gotten the feeling that maybe I need to switch gears a little bit. I think it’s time I take the same approach with my writing. From this point onward I’ll be trying to spend three hours a day on my writing. (Technically, I started yesterday because I’m posting this in advance.)
This decision brings me to a question… How much time do most cartoonists spend writing vs. drawing?
Now, I consider part of my writing time to involve layout of the strip (placement of word bubbles, narration, number of frames, etcetera…) and including that, I think I spend maybe one third of my total strip time on the writing. It’s hard for me to truly estimate that though, because I just haven’t done enough strips and I constantly change the format. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just aim for more of a fifty fifty mix?
That’s pretty dedicated for a webcomic with no discernable source of income. Most comics like this are done in the authors’ spare time, with more work being put in proportionally to the amount of money generated.
I believe I spend about 50/50 writing to drawing, but I do standard size strips. It is really hard for me to say exactly how much time I spend writing, though, because I work on and rework the writing in my head during any free moment I can get. I have dozens of notes for future ideas typed into my cell phone. So writing is an ongoing process in my head.
I’m a writer, but not an artist, myself, so I don’t have anything to offer but this secondhand tidbit:
A couple of friends of mine collaborated on a webcomic once. The writer was my roommate and the artist was my best friend. My roommate could write out several weeks’ worth of strips in an hour or less, but the poor artist couldn’t keep up. It took him hours to do a single three-panel strip. They quit doing it because my roommate got tired of waiting for the turnaround (there were endless delays in addition to the time it took to draw).
I guess your balance should depend on how intricate the world you want to create is, and how naturally jokes come to you.
Thanks for the feedback guys!
@ Stuart: There’s no income right now, but I’m hoping that won’t remain the case forever. The way I look at it is that it’s sort of like a second job/ small business rather than a hobby. In general, most small businesses aren’t expected to show a profit for the first year or two. There are also certain side benefits to working on a project like this… For one; I’m constantly improving in a number of areas that can in turn be directly applied to my day job (freelance artist/graphic designer), such as self-motivation, learning how to increase productivity, and the sharpening my conceptualizing skills. The other benefit comes in terms of a portfolio. Even if I do this for a year, and it goes nowhere, I’ll still have this to point to as proof of a high level of dedication to a project, which should help separate me from the pact of “art types” who generally have a bad reputation for flakiness, and aren’t really known for their focus.
@ Kevin: yeah, the writing is an ongoing process for me too, and when I think 50/50, I’m thinking more in terms of general writing vs. drawing time, rather than on an individual strip basis. What I mean is, I’ve been working on speeding up production lately, and so I’ve gotten to the point that I’ve spent maybe 5-7 hours drawing and inking each of the last two strips I’ve done. Since it takes me that long to draw them, ideally I’d like to spend maybe 8-10 hours writing, and if I come up with say, ten to fourteen jokes, I’d like to only keep the best handful for further revisions, then I’d spend another 4-6 hours further refining those jokes, and eventually only end up with maybe two to three fully polished and laid out panels. The rest would go back into the scrap pile, to be leafed through during those times where I hit a brick wall trying to write jokes. Of course, these numbers will change if I start creating a few more smaller strips, rather than just the larger panels.
@ jon: I’ve seen some writers who are really fast. It certainly makes me jealous. I couldn’t write that fast if I tried, although hopefully I’ll get better as I write more. I think a big part of it is just the confidence and practice, and hopefully a greater level of speed will come with time. One of the issues is that I’m focused on the intricacies of world and character building, while at the same time, trying to figure out “jokes”, so a lot of time I feel like I’m trying to juggle a whole lot of eggs all at once. This might change, but right now it seems like every time I get comfortable, I add another egg, so I guess we’ll see.
Writing is like any creative endeavor: the more you practice, the better you get. And then there is that fickle muse inspiration. Some days, I can crank out a dozen scripts in rapid succession over the course of an hour, each one better than the last. Other days, I can’t even get one right no matter how long I work on it. Personally, I try not to force the issue. When it’s there, it’s there, and when it’s not, I go do something else. Of course, I have that luxury at the moment since I’m not currently under contract.
When I was writing Suzie View for United, I truly learned to appreciate how difficult it is to be funny 7 days a week. It can really wear on you. But, a deadline is a deadline. When asked how he dealt with writer’s block, the late great Charles Schultz replied “Writer’s block is for amateurs.”
Yeah, I’ve worked that way before… waiting on inspiration, doing other things… Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t though. If I’ve got a lot of outside stuff going on, I don’t always have time to wait. That’s when I try to force the issue. My way of dealing with writers block right is to stare that bitch down (I’ll make lists, run through character attributes, possible scenarios, crap like that). Admittedly, sometimes it takes an hour or two. Sometimes I don’t even win, but usually the results are worth it because I’ll happen on things I might not otherwise have thought of.
I find the best inspiration I have are my three kids. Listening to the way others see life helps to open up my eyes….if that doesn’t work I grab another beer.
Ah, I wish I had a technique that worked for me. Every time I try to force the issue where the writing is concerned, I invariably produce crap. I wish they sold muse in caplet form. Or better yet, I’d rather just baseline the stuff…
Menial chores or pacing works for me as well. If I let my mind wander while doing the dishes or housework, I usually come up with something. Pacing around helps too… If I’ve been sitting and staring for too long sometimes I just have to get up and move around. Anything that annoys the crap out of me is also used. If I get ticked off, I immediately think, “is there a joke here?”
Using my kids works sometimes, but often I have to slap on some earphones and zone out. Working out helps occasionally too. Nothing seems to work everytime, though.