A Source of Shame

I’m still thinking about that article about the webcomic artist who didn’t want “to be turned into a product,” and I’m going to say something horrible. Here goes:

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So I guess what I want to say is that I wish my work as a writer was considered to be valuable. I wish the attitudes of American artists and the prejudices against writers weren’t aligned in such a manner as to create obstacles in the way of creative collaboration. And also, it would be nice if writers got paid.

I mean, I’ll keep trying, and I’m sure I’ll succeed eventually. But this is what I’m up against, and I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I’m not a finance person or a social media expert, I just want to tell interesting stories and make cool art.

A Source of Shame, Part 2

While I’m on the subject, another major obstacle is online deplatforming.

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I think the best way to move forward would be to commission a pitch and then send the pitch to an established small press or comics collective like Hiveworks, which will handle the publishing and marketing and so on. But that’s a big commitment for an artist to make with a writer, and... yeah.

A Source of Shame, Part 3

I’m still trying to get to the heart of what I want to say, but it’s difficult to articulate.

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So what I want to say is that, for a lot of creative people, this extreme competitiveness is so intense that like, if the project you’re working on isn’t in the top 10% of the top 1%, what’s even the point?

And I’m not saying this to be angsty or to fish for validation or anything. It’s just the reality of the situation as it currently stands, and it’s not great.

A Source of Shame, Part 4

And I don't mean to shit on America exclusively.

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My actual honest take on this is that it might be worthwhile, as a creator, to try to look into emerging markets. In other words, places that have an indie comics culture that's strong but still mostly a subculture. Like Germany, maybe? Or Argentina? I think looking into indie comics culture outside of the United States is something I could conceivably do using a grant from the Fulbright Scholar Program... which of course isn't competitive at all lmao.