I get emails all the time from ‘experts’ who say i am in desperate need of an editor. I usually don’t reply, but i know for a fact that i’m pretty intolerant of anyone trying to direct my creative work (which is one reason why i really shouldn’t be doing this for a living). It’s not ego, its more about the fact that writing and drawing this stuff is so personal for me that i don’t want any input. It’s kind of like letting someone stand behind you and tell you how to brush your teeth, or what you should watch on TV, or … how you should feel. It doesn’t work that way for me.
This doesn’t mean, of course, that you should just throw caution to the wind and do whatever the hell you feel like. That’s not good either - we’ve all seen the “its my art, you can all go to hell!!” attitudes that people get. I have no delusions that my work might overall be “better” (such a relative term) if i had professionals editing what i do. I have been attempting to work with somewhat of a middle ground - being able to look objectively at my own work and self edit, to listen to my inner editor.
I think that when you have as much self doubt as i do, it only makes sense to put some of that to work and make itself useful. Every once and a while i find myself stuck on something and i don’t really know why, only to realize later, as i sit down and look at it from another angle, that there was a better way to do it, that i need to approach it differently. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, and while it has added to the time needed to do comics, it has made Chapter 6 a hella lot better than Chapter 5, which i just plowed forward with without ’self editing’
Sorta ended up doing that again today. I know why i was not happy with the comic i was working on, and i’ve changed my tact. Puts me behind (as usual) but it will make for a better comic.
Anyways, enough of that. I really gotta get to work… so friggin much to do today its scary.
- pirotunes: Baby Mammoth - Lazy -
i agree with everything you said on freedom of art from editing fools. i too once was told this when i began drawing comics. mind you now i was only 11 at the time and it was merely rebellious comics against “the man” of society (who was the principal at the time). now i’m a little older and i’ve begun drawing again. mainly because the school life of a bored engineering student has lost its charm. all i’m saying is you have every right to feel the way you do about editing your craft…it’s your baby. never let the bowls of unartistic world water down your fire. if not for you…do it for me. but if you do sell-out could let me know how to start my own web-comic i have some material and it’s ashame to hord it to myself. in the name of art. -DJ
any unsolicited advice that you need editing assistance should be deleted immediately. it’s your project, your work, and you can decide if you need assistance in producing it. that said, editing is itself a skilled enterprise requiring imagination and subtlety. the great soviet director, sergei eisenstein, was (it must be admitted) a superlative editor of film — how does one create soviet montage but by taking a long detour into the cutting room floor?
an editor is not necessary, but a trusted editor is sometimes a wonderful shoulder to lean against. I don’t think you need an editor by the way (i suspect you already count on people close to you to bounce ideas off of, though you may not call seraphim an editor
cel
Ahh.. the proverbial “backseat driver”. It’s hard NOT to hate them. As a software developer, I’m all too familiar with the homicidal thoughts one tends to get when their “work” is criticized in this way.
I tend to cope with this problem, much like you do Fred. By forcefully exposing myself to such criticism, then attempting to view that criticism from an objective point of view, as if the work being criticized wasn’t my own. For the most part, I find it works quite well.
Self-criticism isn’t always the most efficiant way to do things, but I can’t see you ever having the need for an “expert” editor either. I’m sure you get more then enough constructive criticism in your inbox to mitigate such a need by a healthy margin. Just don’t ever completely ignore that criticism.
/end rambling
to edit or not to edit
I think there are advantages and diadvantages to having someone work with you (editor, writer, or whatever). The more people you have on a project , the more viewpoints and sorces for original ideas, and the more potential for comunication problems and conflicting opinions. One is not better then the other, It depends on how you like to work, and what exactly you want to produce. Some people may have a clear and very specific idea for what the end product will be. Others like to just wory about one part and need others to help make the whole.
Just my way of looking at it.
Actually I’m rather glad to know that you don’t have an editor and that you don’t “bounce things off someone”, Fred. Though there have been times when I’ve thought that your editor sucked
Heh heh.
Seriously, things are better this way. Having an “Inner Circle” who will claim credit when all goes well and who pull a fade when it doesn’t is just plain bad. I recall a thread where in your reply you said that you didn’t even discuss things with your close friends and it really increased my admiration of what you do
First off, you’re making money doing this now, ergo, when you edit your work, you have a “professional” editing it. Simple application of definition there, so take heart.
There’s that and the facts that you’ve obviously been getting better over the years and you’ve got a wonderfully unique (at least from my perspective) story to tell.
Anyway, if you’re taking advice (and I’ll be the first to admit, that’s not your job . . . you, me and all these other folks here know what your REAL job is, right ;-p), I would suggest that you gather up a hand-picked passle of folk you know won’t be ruffled if you ignore them to act as sorta “beta” readers for comics. This would be a group you could go to with whatever you have at the time at any point you’re feeling anxious or stuck, just to get input that you can feel free to take or leave. The actual input from these people may not matter most of the times, but the interaction should help shake you loose of whatever is blocking you at the moment. And, of course, there’s always the chance that someone may offhandedly serve you up a golden idea, on a silver platter, no less.
Just a thought, mind you, but its been proven to work. Lots of big name novelists, at least, have admitted to this sort of work. Folks like Steven King, for example. His “first reader” is his wife, and by his own admission, she’s not one to take crap from him. Heck, even Alfred Hitchcock took editing notes from his wife, even going so far as to reshoot whole scenes based on her observations.
I don’t think you absolutely NEED any editorial assistance, but I do think you are absolutely working yourself into the ground by not letting willing folks help you a bit more. I mean, you’ve been moaning about not building a support art library for MT and about not knowing when/if you’ll ever be able to get Warmth off the ground. What if, when you get stuck or uncertain, you handed the current comic off to be studied by others, and during the hour to two you’d likely wait for responses, you sat down with the sketch book and scribbled off some stress (or maybe took a nap or got some exercise or any number of other productive things rather than sitting locked up at your computer).
Oh, and since this is the first time I’ve bothered to post here, I might as well say, “thanks” for the work. Been with you since the beginning of chapter 2 and have really enjoyed the ride
Kensai
I know how you feel. Plus sometimes the only way to get a point across or to display the characters or even setting properly is to have the editing mistakes in there, it adds uniqueness and personality. And in my opinion makes it all that much better.
I completely agree MR Fredrin, you don’t want other people tinkering with your comic, story or art. That’s a bloody irritating thought actually. Of course there’s no harm in listening to opinions or ideas, it’s fun, when you have time. But essentially, you don’t want to feel influenced by anything paticularly in your own work, so you can create something completely original. And on the most part you have. I don’t know if you read what I wrote to you before, but it was saying to follow your “Own Megatokyo”, because no-one knows it like you, or ever could. Therefor Editors would hinder the rawness of youur creativity. Your own patch up work (I havn’t noticed ANY requirement for this in your comics!) is up to you, and you may feel inclined to go over everything finely.
It’s only expected that you would get e-mails from companies or people tring to tell you what to do, or even underhandedly make you feel incapable, because the world is like that. It’s dog eat dog, all about profit, and there’s a heck of alot of either jealousy, envy or idolising going on all the time. So, i’m sure you won’t object to me asking you to take it easy on youself, and not let these thing eat away at you too much. IF you want to improve, then the ability is within you, nowere else.
Again, I, and i’m sure everyone here does not want to make you feel like you need input or advice, like you are incapable in any way, or like your somehow inadequate. But you’ve got to expect SOME comments from people, because they enjoy your work, and respect you for it. I do. So if you seem to be trying to solve a problem by what you say on this blog, then it’s only natural people well attempt to help.
I wish you the best, may you continue - without dought - the display or your 5|<!112
Myles. E. T
And another thing, if you for one moment forgot who you were, and pretended you were an anime lover who’d come across MT, you’d realise why it’s to be loved and not critisised! Again with the star wars but- Critics tried to rip that limb from limb when it came out, but when the public = I.E: The one’s who actually HAVE souls (lol) saw it, it became a massive hit. And alot of the critics eat there hats, or words, or whatever, lol.
I feel lie whateve I say… is somehow annoying to you now… I hope that’s not true. Have a Nice week.
Same with me. I feel a bit like that, about people saying how I should correct personal work. I pride myself on writing and drawing the way I do, and when people point and say, “Well, that looks a bit off..you should draw like THIS, like me, instead of your style”, I can’t really stand it. But that’s a little too much about meh. Good luck with it, I hope you do well and I liked the DPD alot! Sprung new ideas into my head about Pirogoeth. =P Be safe and have a great night/day/year. ^^ And stuff, see you!
Same with me. I feel a bit like that, about people saying how I should correct personal work. I pride myself on writing and drawing the way I do, and when people point and say, “Well, that looks a bit off..you should draw like THIS, like me, instead of your style”, I can’t really stand it. But that’s a little too much about meh. Good luck with it, I hope you do well and I liked the DPD alot! Sprung new ideas into my head about Pirogoeth. =P Be safe and have a great night/day/year. ^^ And stuff, see you!
Same with me. I feel a bit like that, about people saying how I should correct personal work. I pride myself on writing and drawing the way I do, and when people point and say, “Well, that looks a bit off..you should draw like THIS, like me, instead of your style”, I can’t really stand it. But that’s a little too much about meh. Good luck with it, I hope you do well and I liked the DPD alot! Sprung new ideas into my head about Pirogoeth. =P Be safe and have a great night/day/year. ^^ And stuff, see you!
Completely off-topic: Mahoraba 13 is out on ’sub.
On-topic: In my opinion, the best thing about being your own editor is that you understand the problems better. Eventually, there is less of a need for such editing because you can produce the edited work the first time. Of course, by then your inner editor has probably progressed to some other area that can be improved.
Still, I think having other ideas can sometimes reduce the time it takes to figure out what, exactly, you should be doing instead. I always advocate experimentation — try a lot of different things and see what works (for you). New ideas can give a good starting point to experiment from, and thus allow you to find what works best more quickly (instead of having to experiment a lot in order to reach that starting point).
Of course, said ideas should usually be in the realm of techniques as opposed to actual story points. Something like “using [t] perspective might help it be more dramatic” as opposed to “you should make a comic about [character] doing the Charleston with a goldfish” or such. In other words, help you find the best way to express *your* ideas, not the “best” ideas for you to express.
Having Dom check your spelling (and maybe a story continuity check) is all the editor you might need. “Editors” can be defined lots of ways…. as long as you’re in control they can be useful minions.
Having Dom check your spelling (and maybe a story continuity check) is all the editor you might need. “Editors” can be defined lots of ways…. as long as you’re in control they can be useful minions.
edit: o yeah… Mahoraba ep 13 (froth-bite) is out… wheeeee
editor? ha! i don’t have one.
i probably can’t afford one nor do i want one. Besides if I make mistakes I’ve got friends who’ll more then gladly point them out to me. ahhh criticsm and perfectionists….run, Fred. Perfectionists scare me. 
“Of course, said ideas should usually be in the realm of techniques as opposed to actual story points. Something like “using [t] perspective might help it be more dramatic” as opposed to “you should make a comic about [character] doing the Charleston with a goldfish” or such. In other words, help you find the best way to express *your* ideas, not the “best” ideas for you to express.” -NightStrife
Yea, that sounds about right. But in the same vein, you could always just Seraphim edit for you (If you don’t already) she seems to be the kind of person that wouldn’t bite her tongue for anyone, especially not for you -=chuckle=-
Though in the years I’ve been reading (Not sure how many, I think I started reading when 85 or something came out) I’ve never been disappointed, even when you would apologize profusely for a late comic or two, or a DPD, I never really minded; and I doubt many others did. The story was always compelling, and you love to leave cliff hangers. I know I’ve gasped many times at the ending of a comic and started pounding the screen because I wanted to know more, haha. The art can be a bit rough sometimes, but that’s increadibly rare. You can tell that you work diligently with this comic. I guess the point I was trying to make is, what could you really benefit from having an editor when the comic that you started by yourself, has blossomed into near perfection.
Either that, or let your fans be your editors -=chuckle=- Say, post your idea for the new comic on the forums, or have a seperate spot for it on MT and allow people to leave comments, and draw from that. You love your fans to death, so why not give them the chance to help you out, I know plenty that would be more than willing to do everything they could to show you how much they appreciate your comic^^
I’m an editor — one who does both substantive editing and copyediting — and the only nitpick I’d have would be the occasional typo (eg. spelling and punctuation). I certainly wouldn’t presume to mess with your writing because I like it the way it is, and I know damn well it’s not *mine*. Some editors forget their job is to discover, refine and polish what the writer really means, and instead try to take over the writing altogether — IMO, that’s just weak sauce. A good editor should be a pleasure to work with, not a literary megalomaniac to be dreaded.
It is my semi-professional opinion that aside from the aforementioned typo check, you seem to be doing just fine on your own without an editor. If it helps, I self-edit the same way when I’m stuck.
*wails cause she can’t go to Anime central* Hi Fred. I’ll draw that pic of Piro for you today. =) If the posing doesn’t kill me first. I think I’ll bring out the deadly graphite-pencils-of-doom just for it. Feel special! *no sarcasm btw*
Well this blog post has almost been commented to death. Have fun at Acen Mr. Gallgher, I wish I could go but I still have school for another two weeks, in a few years I’m definitely going and maybe after my webcomic gets a following buy a table there. But about the editing, don’t feel to bad, it’s bound to happen. At least you don’t have people critisizing your art like i do<_<
um, this is about the rant on the MT site. i was just wondering what Pillows song Piro was referring to. i could see Ping rampaging to quite a few. anyways, enjoy Acen, and keep up the uber work with chapter 6!
whaaaat? Falke, you’ve got two weeks? no fair!! T_T I still got until June 9! Yeah Fred, have fun. P:
OT: Week has ended well … two Mahoraba episodes released by subbers and *finally* ep 17 in the Tsukuyomi Moon Phase series….
Of course, there is always the point that could be made about the fact that you’re the artist, and no matter what you draw will be right because you drew it. Like…nothing in MegaTokyo was ever drawn wrong, because you know how it’s supposed to look, so you draw it that way. You know what the characters are supposed to do and say, so you make them do it.
@Vexx: Indeed; just what I needed after finals week and moving ^_^
Those people are on something.
You are an amazing artist - You have the 1337est art skillz ever.
I love how you have a drawing style all your own.
Just wanted to tell you I’m a big fan. ^^
~Kat
Those people are on something.
You are an amazing artist - You have the 1337est art skillz ever.
I love how you have a drawing style all your own.
Just wanted to tell you I’m a big fan. ^^
~Kat
its your work do as you please really no one should tell you how to do things your comic your ideas your time and effert.i mean help or comments here and there dont hurt but an editor is a bit over the top and pluse if you had an editor it would take more time to make a comic and no one wants that :P.
Y’know, Fred, each recent strip has left me wondering — and twitching — to see where the story goes in the next one, and the newest strip is no exception. Delete all those useless, non-constructive flame mails out of hand and focus on what’s important to you: the comics you publish and the people who love reading them without censure.
Keep it up, j0.
Don’t let them tell you what to do. I know you won’t. This should be -your- comic, and yours alone. Besides, I don’t think it could possibly turn out any better with an editor. Oh, I loved this past comic. The expression on Largo’s face is great ^_^ Take care!