Blowing a Deadline, Learning Lessons

This is fairly self-indiulgent, but it’s my site so I can do whatever I want to. Thanks for listening while I treat this like a therapy session.

I blew a deadline last week. I felt bad about it, but then I had second thoughts and realized this might be an opportunity.

More likely, it’s just a thing that will excite me for a couple of weeks before I run out of time to do anything about it and go back to my usual routines. C’est la vie.

Or — maybe — not?

Let me explain myself.

Last week, Scott Morse announced that he was going to draw a series of one-page stories. He asked writers to submit their ideas to him. He’d pick the best and draw them up during San Diego Comic-Con, eventually publishing a collection of them.

I thought this was a cool opportunity. I love Morse’s work and am familiar with the stuff he did at the turn of the millennium, mostly at Oni. I just re-read his Man WIth No Name-inspired “Spaghetti Western” a few months ago when I tripped over my copy of it. It’s still great stuff.

It would be a long shot, at best. An opportunity like this very rarely comes through for writers. I’m sure he was beseiged with submissions. Even if I had an amazing idea, he may not think it’s as funny as I do, or he may just not want to draw it.

But it is better than zero chance!

Lesson Learned: Life’s short. Take chances. A 1% chance is far superior to no chance.

This is starting to remind me of the times I submitted this site for the Eisner Awards. I knew nothing would come of, but it only cost a stamp and there was still a 1% chance that everyone else would forget to submit their sites, right?

Anyway, my creative juices quickly started flowing. I came up with a high concept immediately. I spent a couple of days working it over in my mind. A high concept is one thing, but turning it into a solid punchline that lands well is another. I needed to take a few swings to find that one punch that landed stronger than a thud.

Lesson Learned: Never stop at your first idea. Ideas are plentiful. Try as many out as you can.

From a writing point of view, I picked an idea that I thought would be in his wheelhouse – just silly enough while grounded in reality, with something interesting to draw. A funny amuse-bouche.

I wrote an outline where he could decide how much detail to draw in. My first punchline required a wide angle with a crowd scene. That would be death to a project like this. My subsequent rewrites included a way to include a strong visual to tell the joke without needing to require more than two or three people in a panel with the vague hint of a background.

Lesson Learned: Write for your intended audience. Play to their strengths and, in a case like this, what they ask for.

Then I made the mistake of letting it sit for a day. I planned to take a look at it the next day with fresh eyes. I didn’t want to miss something or get inspired for an even better idea. You know how your mind comes up with a great solution to a problem when you’re NOT thinking bout it? Something like that.

As life goes, I got busy the next day, forgot about it completely, and blew the deadline.

I realized it the morning after. Morse had already taken the form down.

Opportunity lost.

Lesson learned: Sometimes, you just have to do it. Don’t worry about doing it better. Do it when you have the time. Life comes at you hard.

I was briefly angry at myself for doing something so stupid. I should have just submitted it while it was top of mind. What a wasted opportunity!

Then, it hit me. I had created a gag page that would be simple enough for a season professional to draw fairly quickly. I kept it super simple. It’s not completely talking heads, but it’s close enough. It has enough visual interest that an artist should enjoy it. No cars, bikes, or horses.

Theoretically, I could draw it myself. I’ve done it before. I’m not a great artist, but I could pull the idea off. I could do it on the iPad and (figuratively) CMD-V myself to death until I got something I was somewhat happy with.

And I certainly know hot to letter!

While I gave up the idea of ever being a “comic book professional” nearly 30 years ago, I have always harbored the small dream of publishing my own comic. “Augie De Blieck’s Comics & Stories” or something similar. A small anthology thing.

What if I used this story for that? What if I came up with another idea? And another? What if I trained myself to think in short one page stories that are purposefully simple and fun to draw? And what if I did it over and over enough to the point where I could put out a collection of them?

Or, worst case scenario, just post them to my own website for giggles?

It makes the mind spin.

To quote Gaston: “LeFou, I’m afraid I’ve been thinking. A dangerous pastime, I know….”

No, I’m not going to tell you what my idea was. I have it written down. At this point, it either shows up as something I’ve pieced together, or it dies in a rather impressive digital trash can filled with projects that I never published. It’s all part of the process.

Stay tuned to see if anything comes it this all… And remember to carpe diem under deadline better than me, too!