STEP TWO: Assess, Assess, Assess.
First, you need to shake the stars out of your eyes and look at your work. If you don't have any work, GO MAKE SOME WORK. Decide what your ultimate goal is, what your dream job in comics is. Then look at your work as though someone else did it. Look at it as though you just paid three dollars for it and it was done by someone you don't know. Don't look for perfection, but for God's sake don't overlook the flaws, either. If you're an artist, grab three comics you like and compare the art you've done to the art in those books. If you aren't anywhere near that level of quality, then you need to work hard, improve, and come back. If you're a writer, reread your stories. Have someone else, preferably a writer, read them. Be brutal. Start over if necessary. Repeat until your brain explodes.
Compare your work. No one expects you to be Adam Hughes just starting out. But if you can't bring something better than the ten thousand artists out there who already can't get work, then you're dead before you start. You can't be 50% ready and get hired. You have to be 90% ready and prepared to learn the other 10% immediately.
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Brutal Tips for Writers
Non-FictionGail Simone, writer of @VertigoComics’ new horror title CLEAN ROOM, details the unvarnished reality of what it takes to become a comic book professional.
