Y’know, I’ve always wanted to quit my job and get rich.
To make so much money that finances wouldn’t be an issue anymore.
To make so much, I’d never have to work again.
To achieve financial freedom and draw whatever I want, whenever I want.
And this summer I got a taste of exactly that kind of life. The demo version, if you will.
After high school, I’d read all about making money and attracting the life you want.
I thought all I needed to do was start some big unique business or strike it rich with a new app and let the cash roll in. I had no idea what I was doing or why it would work. I thought I’d learn to code and develop a website that would make me all the money I’d want.
But my approach was all wrong. And I had no idea what was valuable to people.
I still have little clue.
I always thought I’d build some bullshit business, sell it off for millions, then live in prosperity.
I’d read HUNDREDS of stories like that.
In fact, as soon as I’d heard about manga artists making millions, I immediately set my sights on that goal.
For the longest time, I studied art and writing to get on the level of my favorite creators.
But the comic book industry looked so bleak in terms of wealth creation that I thought Japan might be a better option. I wanted nothing more than to create a great manga, get an anime, retire rich and go on adventures with my friends & family, drawing whenever I felt like it…
…until I took a look behind their curtain.
Medical issues, mental health issues, lack of sleep, loss of time, decades spent sacrificing for the art, only to lose the ability to enjoy the fruit of one’s labor in their older age.
That’s what the manga/anime industry looked like behind all the shiny, pretty colors of their products.
Not ideal.
So I was trapped between a rock and a hard place for years.
Unable to decide between two paths which I believe were my ONLY options.
I could roll the dice by creating some comic book that would fetch a few sales here and there. The majority of the revenue of which would go to the publisher. OR I could work my ASS off the bone with a low possibility of ever seeing my own anime in Japan.
But over the years, a third option became clear to me which is now becoming ever more viable as I continue to create.
First, I had to figure out what mattered to me as a creator.
I like writing and I like drawing.
Do I care about being super famous and everyone knowing me? Not really.
Do I care about making millions? Not millions, per se.
But enough money to achieve financial freedom. Which is when your passive income pays for your living expenses and then some.
Do I really want to make an anime out of my work? One day for sure!
But over time, I’ve noticed a sort of destabilization in the major companies (even in Japan!) caused by the rise of the internet.
Creators were self-publishing their own work with no middle man.
Comics creators like Dave Sim or Kevin Eastman were self-publishing long before Kickstarter.
My friends, Nick Pitarra, and Ngozi Ukazu raking in huge numbers on their crowdfunded projects.
Animators like Arin Hanson (Egoraptor) solo-animating shorts.
Vivienne Medrano (Vivziepop) creating animations with her own crowdfunded studio.
So I began to understand.
I didn’t need to rely on the hope strategy. I didn’t need to create a comic for any company. To follow their guidelines and hope for an anime deal, Hollywood movie, or Netflix show. Some reimagining where they’d change my main character and still call it Air-Rider.
I learned I can create my own comics and even develop a studio for future animations! My main goal in all this is to proliferate the world with beauty. I know I can, so I will.
But it’s a climb, for sure. I can’t instantly go from beginning to end.
And what fun would that be, anyway?
I’m no longer building some big company to sell off one day, I’m building a studio to entertain the shit out of people.
My goal is to develop my storytelling style in comics, then to expand my vision into animation.
Creating great stories you can escape into, but drive you back to your own life with vigor and enthusiasm. Stories you can get lost in forever and enjoy. Stories that inspire you to live like your favorite characters. It’s possible if you work for it.
I’ve been studying storytelling for well over a decade and I’m just now getting started. I have hundreds–HUNDREDS of pages of useful theories and notes, and I’m here to share it ALL. A good writer creates good stories.
A great writer creates great writers!