Thread by @Iron_Spike

So You Want to Work (Creatively) For Yourself: a series of suggestions.

Source: me, a professional cartoonist and business owner: founder of @ironcircuscomix, Chicago's largest comics publisher. Hi!

Anyway.

If you want to write, or draw, or animate, or stream video games? If you just wanna have a Dream Job that aligns with what you're already doing for free? Congratulations, GREAT timing! It's never been easier to achieve that!

But it's still not instantaneous.

- Get ready for the long haul.

Vanishingly few people launch their "fun careers" and find instant success. It will probably take awhile. And by "awhile," I mean YEARS. Years of being ignored, years of low to no feedback or praise, years of feeling like you're invisible.

12 people in your Twitch stream, 3 reblogs of your art on tumblr, $200 gross revenue at the comic con artist alley table? Congratulations. You're normal. And real talk, there's no guarantee things will improve.

But LIFE has no guarantees. So this isn't a special case or anything.

Anyway, persevere. You don't have an expiration date. And if you already enjoy it, and it never expands beyond a hobby that occasionally covers this week's groceries? maybe that's OK, too. It's up to you.

- Success is not a zip code.

I'm amazed this is still a thing, but wit a few exceptions, we're YEARS out from your address being make-or-break with regards to your chances, ESPECIALLY with online content.

Yes, if you wanna get into North American animation, you will *probably* have to move to CA.

But the biggest Twitch streamer I watch, a full-timer who supports a wife and child and just bought a house, currently resides in Tennessee.

2/3rds(?) of MBMBAM live in West Virginia.

These aren't global entertainment hubs, and they don't have to be, because the whole point of the internet is It Doesn't Matter Where You Are.

Srsly. Stay in Nebraska. The rent's cheaper. Your Patreon will hit the pays-my-bills milestone a whole lot faster.

- Start sustainably.

This is going to vary from person to person, but essentially?

Monday: "I want to write teleplays professionally."
Tuesday: *quits job with no other means of support to give it a go, starts on very first script ever*

NO.

There's no fast-forward button. There's no cutting in line. How fervently you dedicate yourself to your craft in grand gestures has no bearing on the outcome.

Now, if your spouse is a producer on Empire? Okay, maybe this will work. MAYBE. But most of us don't have those ins.

So if you wanna pro-stream on Twitch? Set aside 2 or 3 hours a night after work, buy a $30 greenscreen, a Yeti mic and and a 12-pack of acoustic panels of Amazon, and promise yourself you'll keep going, even on single-digit viewership days. DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB.

Yet.

- Got advantages? Take 'em. There is no script.

This is tied into the sustainability thing.

There is no way to make it in creative fields that "counts" or "doesn't count." And fuck anybody who says otherwise, this shit is hard enough without blowhards moving goalposts.

A dirty little secret in comics? Behind a LOT of "successful pros" is a spouse or parent(s) that did a LOT of financial heavy lifting while the creatives were establishing themselves in their first, frustrating, early years. I doubt it's different in other creative professions.

The Right Way to be successful-- quickly (or even instantly) independently living alone and self-supporting, ideally far from your hometown-- is bullshit. It's a fantasy. It doesn't apply to most of us, especially not these days.

Cézanne, Matisse, Manet, a whole LOT of wildly successful fine artists came from well-to-do families that could afford them and their ambitions. And gamedev/streaming/the commercial arts are likewise packed with ppl who have spouses with good jobs, or the children of privilege.

And if this is you? COOL. WORK THAT ANGLE.

If mom says "You can live in my basement while you finish your first game," if your husband says "You can take a year to finish your novel," if you are thrown ANY kind of advantage? GRAB IT. FUCK PRIDE. FUCK "THE RIGHT WAY."

And if this angle isn't offered? if it's reasonable, ASK FOR IT. Ask in a calm, rational manner, with an ENDPOINT.

"Aunt Bev, can I live in the cabin until summer? I would like to power through my graphic novel with no distractions. I'll be out by the end of May."

Look for ways to make it happen. Look for ways to make it a little easier. Exploit your advantages. Because suffering doesn't make you authentic, it just makes you miserable.

And finally and most importantly:

- There are no meritocracies.

Just being good isn't enough. You also need to be reliable, and productive, and professional, and available, and to promote yourself RELENTLESSLY. No one is all these things all the time, but you have to TRY.

You're your own agent, and publicist, and project manager. Maybe one day, if it all works out, you'll be able to hire folks to do it all for you! But for now, you're covering all the bases.

No one will find you if you don't make yourself easy to find.

Make a mailing list, stick to your broadcast schedule, watermark all your art with your portfolio URL, have a public email address for inquiries. You're competing with a LOT of other people! The mildest inconvenience might lose you someone's attention.

Anyway, I think I've gotten this all out of my system for now.

What you want is (probably) doable. But it's not easy. Go in knowing that and try anyway.

( o_o)-b