I'm someone who loses sleep worrying if a character should say "that thing" or "this thing", but at a certain point you have to move on. I think I've written enough and understand comics well enough to trust my instincts about when a story/scene/moment/line works or not. That said, there are times something keeps niggling at the back of your brain and you still have to put it aside to get the book out. Because the quicker you can get a book out— one you're proud of, I should add; I do think that's a bottom line you can't shortcut— the quicker you can move onto the next one, and the quicker you'll have a little more money in your bank account to pay the bills. Which is another part of the process you can't ignore.
This is my approach: put out the best damn comic I'm capable of, leaving the door open for "final edits" on the collected editions which, to my mind, should represent the final and forever version of the comic. I've made countless color corrections, fixed typos, change dialogue, and on one occasion threw out the ending to one chapter and had a new, longer one produced. The start and end point were still the same, but the way we got from A to B was much smoother, more interesting, and more character-revealing. The original ending worked, but it didn't sing.
Great insight Karl! I do think the mark of a professional is one that can "finish the job" and move on. As you put it, it puts money in the bank account and at the end of the day we all need to eat.
I also think that in order to get better you have to finish things - saying to yourself "okay, it's done" signals to your brain that you've accomplished something, which is a huge psychological boost, and helps prime it for that improvement of the craft aspect.
Thanks for sharing and reading! Hope you're doing well :)
I'm someone who loses sleep worrying if a character should say "that thing" or "this thing", but at a certain point you have to move on. I think I've written enough and understand comics well enough to trust my instincts about when a story/scene/moment/line works or not. That said, there are times something keeps niggling at the back of your brain and you still have to put it aside to get the book out. Because the quicker you can get a book out— one you're proud of, I should add; I do think that's a bottom line you can't shortcut— the quicker you can move onto the next one, and the quicker you'll have a little more money in your bank account to pay the bills. Which is another part of the process you can't ignore.
This is my approach: put out the best damn comic I'm capable of, leaving the door open for "final edits" on the collected editions which, to my mind, should represent the final and forever version of the comic. I've made countless color corrections, fixed typos, change dialogue, and on one occasion threw out the ending to one chapter and had a new, longer one produced. The start and end point were still the same, but the way we got from A to B was much smoother, more interesting, and more character-revealing. The original ending worked, but it didn't sing.
And we all want our books to sing, don't we?
Great insight Karl! I do think the mark of a professional is one that can "finish the job" and move on. As you put it, it puts money in the bank account and at the end of the day we all need to eat.
I also think that in order to get better you have to finish things - saying to yourself "okay, it's done" signals to your brain that you've accomplished something, which is a huge psychological boost, and helps prime it for that improvement of the craft aspect.
Thanks for sharing and reading! Hope you're doing well :)