Do you feel time constraints help your creative process?
I'm severely time-burdened, but seem to be thriving. Am I deluding myself? Or am I now laser-focused?
Hi, friends, and welcome back to another edition of the newsletter
In the last creative update, I hinted at some of the projects I’m currently working on. I have a long (long) list of projects planned out, but sometimes it’s hard to prioritize, especially when I have such limited time available to create right now.
With that said, constraints are important and often support rather than hinder creation. For example, this week I wrote the first two issues of the (still untitled) supernatural punk rock horror comic, based on a detailed outline I had previously created, and also worked on the newsletter, with the latest post available here.
I’ve finally come to embrace the newsletter writing as part of my weekly writing time. For the longest time, I resisted it, preferring to spend my time working only on creative projects.
But while that sounds good in theory, in practice I realized it was actually hurting me.
I wasn’t using my time wisely, and found myself unable to focus exclusively on the writing. Worse, I was also not doing the other things necessary to support my creative work, namely engage with my audience. So, even if I was able to finish a new project, I would then have to do the hard work of talking about it.
Shifting perspectives can be hard, but I’ve found it’s actually helped me. What I thought was a zero-sum game, has actually not worked out that way. If anything, making time to write these newsletters is helping me to write more quickly on my other projects.
Are the issues of my supernatural punk rock horror comic finished? Not by a long shot, but they exist in (vomit) draft form and I can revise them over the next couple of weeks. I was surprised by how quickly I was able to put the drafts together. Usually this would trigger my imposter syndrome, and I would pore over the material, certain that it was derivative and weak. This time… not so much.
To be fair, I’ve been sitting with this story in my subconscious for a loooooonnnnngggg time, so writing a detailed outline was probably helped by the fact my subconscious had already done much of the heavy lifting.
But this was definitely one of those stories that spilled out of me fairly quickly, and seems (at least to my eyes) to be landing. Of course, the proof of the pudding will come when I share the pages with other creators to get their feedback. But for now, I feel like the lack of time really helped me focus, and I was ruthless in my trimming of fat/killing darlings/insert your favourite literary metaphor here.
This book is a four-issue miniseries, at least for now - there is scope for continuation, but I’ve learned the hard way that it’s best not to be too ambitious with indie projects. So with two issues drafted, but not completed, I feel confident of getting all four issues scripted before the end of the year.
The plan is then to find the right collaborative team to bring the book to life, and then launch in 2025. My plan is to have two issues completed and locked before I put the first issue on Kickstarter, with the intent of launching each issue rapidly after that, culminating in a limited edition collectors’ edition in 2026.
Will I be able to keep this project on the above timeline? I’ll keep you posted.
Virtual Creator Con promo
I thought I’d share some early promotional material with you for the upcoming show on November 2-3. I knocked up this quick teaser video to share with folks, but thought I’d share with you all first. Let me know what you think.
The November show will run for two full days, to ensure more equitable access for those outside of North America.
I’ll also be staggering the release of panels, rather than simply throwing them all up at the same time, and hopefully doing a couple of livestreams this time to talk about the con and answer some questions!
Upcoming shows
Here’s where you can catch me between now and the end of the year.
August 25 (today) - West Coast Comic Con
September 28 - New Westminster Comic Con
November 2-3 - Virtual Creator Con
November 10 - Vancouver Comic Con
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What have I been reading?
Like many of you, I have a long list of books that I have yet to read. I always assume I’ll get through them during the summer months, but that invariably fails to happen.
I’ve always been a reader who likes to set aside a long chunk of time, so that I can immerse myself in any given book. These days, I’ve become accustomed to reading whenever I get the chance, in those stolen moments in between other activities. It works - but takes me a little longer than I anticipate.
On the fiction side, I recently finished Huge by Brent Butt. Brent is a Canadian comedy legend writer/creator, who created the show Corner Gas (and its subsequent animated spin-off), and this was his first novel.
It’s a fast-moving thriller set in the world of stand-up; the story is tightly wound, and the characters are always interesting. It’s a quick and enjoyable read, so if you come across it, it’s worth checking out.
On the non-fiction side, I finally (finally) read “The 22 immutable laws of marketing” by Ries and Trout. This one had been on my list for a long time, but I finally managed to get ‘er done.
I have some (lots) of thoughts on whether these really are laws, but despite the age of the book (it’s 30 years old), I think there’s still a lot of relevant information in here for indie creators. Worth a read if you can find it in your local library. The chapters are short, and they provide some interesting examples (albeit dated from our perspective).
I have a store!
I have an online store where you can grab (signed) exclusive comics, books, and merchandise directly from me! To see what’s currently in stock, check out the button below.
I suspect (or hope) that most creators run their own stores, but I know first-hand how tough it can be to market and promote them. If you have an online store, let me know in the comments.
That’s it for this week. See ya soon!
Cheers
John
Writing to deadline can help you push through that creative morass sometimes. Other times, shutting the laptop and simply going out for a walk can do wonders to reenergise my jaded synapses.