Back to work tomorrow, and I can quite honestly say that I do not want to go. Nobody likes going back to work after time off but I'm really struggling with the idea of leaving Olivia for over eight hours a day. Didn't think I'd find it this hard.
Slow going but I'm trying to get back into the (my own) work. The two biggest problems I face with writing and drawing is that I don't spend enough time doing it and I never send it off anywhere to try and get published. Best change that then.
It's going to be hard going but I'm going to try and knuckle down with the various projects I've got half finished barely started and not quite forgotten. There's also a couple of new things I'd like to do, I've not tried to do any picture books for years and I love them so I'm going to try very hard to come up with some ideas - the hardest part for me, picture book writers everywhere, I salute you!
The subtext here is that I'd much rather be working at home with my daughter than anywhere else without her:)
10 comments:
This is going to sound incredibly stupid, but I'll say it anyway.
I know you and Bec just had a baby - I got the text, have seen the photos, read the blog. But it wasn't until just now when I read the words 'my daughter' that it really hit me - you're a Daddy!
Shutting up now.
Don't want to bring you down but the going out to work and leaving your daughter for 8 hours a day doesn't get any easier. Five years in and it's still a wrench every morning, even when she's driving me crazy and telling me I'm cuckoo in the head. You've got the talent to be making picture books and comics for a living, if Olivia isn't enough inspiration to get down to it then you may as well sell your art materials, get used to being a wage slave and wake up one morning to find she's 18 years old and you've no idea where the time went.
The arrival of a baby brings a fresh impetus to your own work I've always found. Puts that fire in the belly that only comes from parenthood and providing for your own. Expect some of your most prolific work to come now, Paul! ;-)
So how was the first day back? Feeling inspired?
Peter, it sucked big flabby arse.
I definitely want to do more of my own work, the problem is I'm just not very good at generating ideas, specially the good ones!
I do have a comic script I'm working on if there's a 2nd volume of Best New Manga. Novel-wise I've got a few things I've been messing about with over the last couple of years that I think are worth actually cracking on with.
So, yeah, all fired up Mr Bling! Here's hoping.
PS Know what you mean katy, felt very typing 'my daughter'.
You're gonna find yourself stretched thin, paul, there's no two ways about it, but personally I find that concentrates the mind.
My advice to you with regard to looking over old projects; do it chronologically.
and it keeps on sucking. Especially when you mis first steps or firsst words because you have to go out and earn a crust.
If you're going back over old stuff does this mean there's a chance for AstroDog? That mutt was one of my favourite pieces of your work.
I know what you mean about completing stuff though. I always have struggled with that. I can come up with the idea, the pitch, put then coming up with a story structure to hang the concept on just defeats me. How you can even consider moving back and forth between 20 page picture book, 120+page YA novel and 10 page comic strip is beyond me.
Ever thought of rewriting a classic fairytale to your style? I could see you doing a very good Tortoise and Hare.
Jo - Actually I guess I do make more effort to find the time to do stuff when I don't have that much time to begin with.... does that make sense? I worked part time for a while and found I did less work than when I worked full time, that's what I mean.
INJ - Chronologically? How come? Funnily I have dug out one of my earliest ideas as even though I did a bad job on realising it way back when I think the core idea's strong enough to have another go.
Peter - Might have another look at Astrodog actually(there's some of the artwork floating around the blog if you missed it). I'm the same as you as far as structure, I used to just make it up as I went along, which is fine for a lot of folk, but I'd end up getting stuck and then jack it all in, so now I'm trying to at least have a basic plot worked out before hand. But as I said before that initial idea bit still foxes me too, if I've got any ability it's in doggedly fixing things until they look like I had a bit of clue when I started. 10 page comic though? The idea I'm working on's more like 40 pages!
Chronologically as in go back to the first thing and start from there. You'll find yourself either re-inspired, or sorting wheat from chaff (as I call it), if it doesn't grab you move on to the next oldest piece of work and so on till you're bang up to date. Also, what I do, is consider how some projects would work if they were merged with others.
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