No.

I would kindly suggest that writing and drawing are at least on equal footing when it comes to the difficulty of mastering them. If learning to write was so much easier than learning to draw, comics in general would be better written than they are, no? Certainly the increasingly skilled, realistic art is not the reason comic audiences have been shrinking steadily for the past 20 years…

[...] – Johanna Draper Carlson tells you how to make a career writing comics. [...]

Both! I’m not worried– when you accept that a horrid and unoving universe is bent upon flensing all hope from your soul, you learn to enjoy your beer and not give two hoots about your luck. Maya! Maya! Maya! But mostly I was making a (ch’yeah) funny.

(And no, I have not and will not stop trying. Hell, I’m working on something right now when I should be… working.)

Batman Plus Arsenal was released in October 1996.

Grayson’s flaws were many, but she got where she was more for her talent than her ability to network. She squandered that talent, IMO, on her fear of the fangirl within, but comics, and quite frankly any creative endeavor, are poorer for her absence.

I’m a big believer in #1…no, not the bodily function you pervs!!!

It’s all about showing people what you can do. Telling people you can write comics means zilch.

Handing someone a book you wrote and published shows not just your talent level but also your commitment to making comics.

Now, fingers crossed, hopefully it will pay off for me.

DAMMIT! I’ve wasted the past three years of my life!!!!!

Seriously, though, great site and very helpful advice. Thank you.

I regret nothing. I apologize for nothing!

1. Make Your Own Comics – While I didn’t start out doing this, doing my webcomic did lead to a great gig.

2. Be Best Buddies with Bob Schreck – For me, it was Dean Haspiel.

3. Write Something Else – I wrote screenplays and did script doctoring when someone asked me to look at their comic idea. Haven’t written screenplays since.

That’s a pretty good list up there, folks. Don’t underestimate it.

THANK YOU, Johanna. The next time somebody tells me they want to get into writing comics and only comics when they’ve done nothing else before, I’ll be forwarding this to them. You’ve just stated everything I’ve ever tried to say: that the pursuit of becoming a comics writer isn’t the same path an artist’s and requires a lot more elbow-rubbing and pestering and working in other fields to even get your work looked at.

To put it simply: being a writer is not more difficult (or easy) than being an artist, but it’s certainly more difficult to convince somebody to take at least thirty minutes of their day to look at your sample script in order to develop an impression as compared to saying, “Hey. Here’s my art!” and taking two seconds to develop an impression. And editor can glance at an art portfolio and decide in an instant whether this style is right for the kinds of projects they work on, but dedicated reading takes more time and effort . . . something most editors (and agents) have in short supply.

A story: I’ve told you that I’ve written a youth novel and have started to pitch it around and publishers. Having been on the publisher’s end, however, I recognize how difficult it is to get people to even look at your writing. So, in order to form a more instant impression, I included artwork: character designs, setting sketches, even mock pages for either a) what would be an illustrated novel or b) what could potentially spin off into a graphic novel series. The response so far means that I can do the reverse of most writers: go through the people I know in the GN biz to get my work on the desks of those in the prose biz. And so far, it’s working.

The quality of the work will determine for itself whether or not it will get picked up, but for getting somebody’s attention, it works.

Which is why if anybody wants to get into writing comics, they should already have an artist on board instead of saying, “And this is what I envision doing with Jim Lee.”

Currently trying to get a few “writing only” gigs as well, but this stuff takes time, and you have to be patient with and respect the time of the people look at your work. Publishers are a lot more hesitant–it seems–to sign on new writers than new artists and take longer to get around to reading your samples.

[...] of all, Johanna Draper Carlson wrote this great article, How to Break Into Writing Comics which is pretty near and dear to my heart these days. I’m not exactly sure where I fit in to [...]

I don’t know HOW many times I’ve seen people say she broke in as a result of being Mark Waid’s girlfriend when she already had several assignments printed before they’d even met.

I’m hoping history gives her the credit she deserves as one of the first female mainstream comics writers to have her own fanbase specific to her, and as a big influence to a lot of us who followed.

Thanks, no harm intended!

Thanks for reading and complimenting the site!

Yikes.

“…enjoy the SITE very much.”

I will spell for JUSTICE!

Joanna, I’m sorry for my first note here in a while being a correction, because I enjoy the sight very much.

But Devin didn’t break in because some editor spotted her fanfic. She did it the hard way, in a manner that is almost impossible to achieve now. She wrote the Bat-editors and did spec work and outlines for two solid years. She took their suggestions, listened to their advice, and worked her behind off before getting her first pro shot. I’ve always found the way she broke in to be inspiring and a very very good lesson for those making the attempt to break in at DC or Marvel.

Simply put, she worked her way in through hard work, talent, and determination. Unlike myself, who somehow was in the right place at the right time, she did things right and earned her own way, not an easy thing for anyone to do, but particularly tough for a female writer at that time.

Great post, as always, however, just wanted to clear up that little bit.