Yup. People will point the finger and say 'it's you're dream job! How can you not be happy? Just enjoy it, you're killing it...' etc. Except all-of-the-above. Why and how we keep going is a mystery, but we do. Sometimes we simply MUST, is as simple as that. Survival demands it more than anything! Great post.
NAILED it. What you wrote is so much my life, too, I again wonder if we aren't twins separated art birth.
I'd add that it's easier to power through Creative Fatigue when you're working on a job with a hard deadline, usually for an actual comics company. The job has to be in the editor's hands by Monday, so that line of dialogue or that panel of what we'll laughably call a "crowd" will have to do. That said, I'm pretty happy with 95% of what I've done over the years. When I look at old work, I'm amazed it's better than I remember (and/or horrified it's better than what I'm doing NOW), but there are still those moments when I think "If only I'd had another day to work on this scene…" Even if I'd been up for days to make a deadline, and got the next job as I handed in the last one, that next issue was always a fresh start, and re-invigorated me.
Of course, that doesn't come into play when you're doing your own comics through, say, Kickstarter, with no set deadline and, while you'd like to believe people will be happy to read it when you're done, no one is actually pounding on your door for you to finish. So you CAN take another day to work on that scene… or put it off until you're more in the mood to work on it.
In those cases I often Make Deals With Myself. Finish this script's first draft, then you can do roughs for that pin-up you'd really rather be doing. Finish inking this entire 5-page scene— including backgrounds, dammit!— and you can go see "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" (choosing something totally at random). I have a very manipulative boss, but he gets the work out of me.
I also think Creative Fatigue is more frequent in Kickstarter-powered comics because you're not getting that monthly adrenaline hit when a new issue comes out. That's a great boost/morale refresher. But with Kickstarter, it could be six months between issues— or more (for me, at least)! Even conventions can be a double-edged sword. It's always great to see people who like your work, but the longer you haven't worked on something for the Big 2, the more you have to shift your mindset from "what I've done lately" to "what I'm building"— which, by its very nature, is less exciting and more methodical.
Still, I wouldn't trade this job for any other on the planet. Because nothing else comes close to the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that creating comics gives me. Any Creative Fatigue that sets is always temporary, and the end results are always worth it.
Great article! I am not at a stage when I have felt that feeling, but I definitely understand it.. I think it's sooo unfortunately easy to feel this creative fatigue when you work in a field you're passionate about... On another note, your article made me realized I might have "creative frustration" (?), I have ideas and energy to write stuffs... But I have no idea how to put them on paper haha
Yup. People will point the finger and say 'it's you're dream job! How can you not be happy? Just enjoy it, you're killing it...' etc. Except all-of-the-above. Why and how we keep going is a mystery, but we do. Sometimes we simply MUST, is as simple as that. Survival demands it more than anything! Great post.
NAILED it. What you wrote is so much my life, too, I again wonder if we aren't twins separated art birth.
I'd add that it's easier to power through Creative Fatigue when you're working on a job with a hard deadline, usually for an actual comics company. The job has to be in the editor's hands by Monday, so that line of dialogue or that panel of what we'll laughably call a "crowd" will have to do. That said, I'm pretty happy with 95% of what I've done over the years. When I look at old work, I'm amazed it's better than I remember (and/or horrified it's better than what I'm doing NOW), but there are still those moments when I think "If only I'd had another day to work on this scene…" Even if I'd been up for days to make a deadline, and got the next job as I handed in the last one, that next issue was always a fresh start, and re-invigorated me.
Of course, that doesn't come into play when you're doing your own comics through, say, Kickstarter, with no set deadline and, while you'd like to believe people will be happy to read it when you're done, no one is actually pounding on your door for you to finish. So you CAN take another day to work on that scene… or put it off until you're more in the mood to work on it.
In those cases I often Make Deals With Myself. Finish this script's first draft, then you can do roughs for that pin-up you'd really rather be doing. Finish inking this entire 5-page scene— including backgrounds, dammit!— and you can go see "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" (choosing something totally at random). I have a very manipulative boss, but he gets the work out of me.
I also think Creative Fatigue is more frequent in Kickstarter-powered comics because you're not getting that monthly adrenaline hit when a new issue comes out. That's a great boost/morale refresher. But with Kickstarter, it could be six months between issues— or more (for me, at least)! Even conventions can be a double-edged sword. It's always great to see people who like your work, but the longer you haven't worked on something for the Big 2, the more you have to shift your mindset from "what I've done lately" to "what I'm building"— which, by its very nature, is less exciting and more methodical.
Still, I wouldn't trade this job for any other on the planet. Because nothing else comes close to the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that creating comics gives me. Any Creative Fatigue that sets is always temporary, and the end results are always worth it.
Plus, I have no other marketable skills.
‘Nuff said.
Great article! I am not at a stage when I have felt that feeling, but I definitely understand it.. I think it's sooo unfortunately easy to feel this creative fatigue when you work in a field you're passionate about... On another note, your article made me realized I might have "creative frustration" (?), I have ideas and energy to write stuffs... But I have no idea how to put them on paper haha
I feel this…
ALL of this