The Wayward Cartoonist

Persistence (is futile?)

On May 2, I posted the first (and only, so far) strip of my webcomic, Fustercluck. Since then, I’ve experienced a string of roadblocks that have contributed to a huge drain on my motivation. So I’m hoping that enumerating them here will help me overcome them one by one and get back to/get started actually producing my comic.

1. Scanner trouble. When I scanned in the first strip, I had to scan it in twice and assemble it, since the comic strip board I used was larger than my LTR-sized scanner. That wasn’t that much of a problem due to the way it was formatted, but I saw that I would need to get a larger scanner if I wanted to streamline my workflow. I had been eyeing a larger format scanner, and when it finally arrived, I couldn’t get the damn thing to scan a decent image. After researching the issue, I determined that it was either a bad driver install or a defective unit. I still haven’t been able to make the time to fix either issue (aside from calling the manufacturer’s tech support, which was about as helpful as calling my 6-year-old son, and much less enjoyable). This was the first thing that took the wind out of my sails.
2. Visit to the ER and subsequent bedrest. This was unexpected, and it should have provided an opportunity for me to create, but I was unable to leave the house, which impacted my ability to create.
3. Death in the family. Well, we can’t help stuff like this. My grandmother passed away in the wake of my scanner woes, and that threw my comic creating schedule (such that it was) for a loop. While I dealt with it at a distance (she lived in FL, and I was in the ER just prior to her passing), it was still a major factor, since it directly impacted my mother and sisters (all local, and Mom is also our child care provider).
4. Chaotic household. I have two young kids at home (9 and 6), the oldest of whom has some challenging behavior issues (OCD, ADHD), which also directly impacts the younger one (him being her punching bag, and all). In addition, my wife and I work opposite sides of the clock, so when we’re home, we’re either wrangling the kids or resting, which leaves precious little time for things like cleaning, organizing (you know, the basics). As a result, our house is chaotic and messy most of the time. I’m typing this on our kitchen table — well, a corner of our kitchen table, anyhow. The rest of it is covered with mail, a lunch cooler, paintbrushes, some soda cans (mine, admittedly. I’ll recycle them as soon as I finish this post, I promise!), a fruit bowl, some toys, and myriad other things that don’t really belong here. Multiply that by about 100 and you’ve got an idea what the rest of the house is like.
5. No creative space. I would love to have a studio. The closest candidate I have right now is our shed, which I’d have to convert (drywall, a/c, etc.). But for now, I have a corner. In that corner, I have an iMac (the family computer), two scanners, two printers, a few hard drives (which I still need to set up as backup and external media libraries), a few file drawer units, a couple shelves of books, and a rolling set of office drawers. Oh, and ALL MY OTHER CRAP, which is overflowing into the space also known as Not My Corner. This, combined with No. 4 above, has made it very difficult to even sit there for any length of time, let alone do any work.
6. Lack of technical know-how. Coming from someone who does tech support for a living, I know this one sounds really weak. But I haven’t kept up with web design or web coding for the past five years or so, and it completely passed me by. I’m trying to wrestle with WordPress & several plugins, web hosting, trying to wrap my mind around CSS so I can customize my site, scanner troubleshooting, and a handful of other technical hurdles. I know I’ll get them eventually, but for now, the technical end of it is a huge obstacle.
7. Community building. This is actually a huge benefit for me (and I hope for others, too), but it does require a time investment to ensure it’s worthwhile for everyone. I’ve been the de facto organizer for our local comic creator meetups for about 6 months now, and I’ve been trying to make each meetup worthwhile. We’ve been having about 2 per month since February, and preparation for each of them takes between 1 and 3 hours. It’s well worth it, but it’s time not spent working on my own creations.

I know this list probably reads like a list of excuses, and that’s partially why I’m posting it. I want to get them out of my head and onto paper (so to speak) so I can try to figure out strategies to get past them.

If anyone out there has any tips, tricks, or strategies they care to share, I’m all ears. Well… actually, I’m mostly mid-section, but I’d still love to hear that stuff anyhow. ;^)