#33: The Dip and Being the Best in the World
If you want to make it, in comics or pretty much anything, it's quite simple, really- Become the best in the world at what you do.
Shockingly, I did not pull this advice from a certain undersized and over-clawed mutant. Rather, it is one of the assertions in The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (And When to Stick), a wonderfully thought-provoking book by Seth Godin. Last column, I asked readers to think about how much they are willing to sacrifice to "make it" in comics. This week, I'm going to ask some more tough questions to challenge your commitment and approach to achieving your goals. Once again, I don't have all the answers, and I don't think Godin's book does either. But it does raise some great questions. Here are a few to ponder:
- What are you trying to do, achieve, or become in comics? (Ex. Superhero comic book penciller, daily strip humor web-cartoonist, writer of horror comics, E-I-C of a major publisher, etc.)
- Are you committed to becoming THE BEST or one of the best people in the world who does what you're trying to do?
- Is becoming THE BEST in that realm a realistic possibility for you, given where you are now, and the effort you're willing to put in?
- If becoming THE BEST in that area is a longshot, is there another niche you might have a better shot at making it to the top?
I keep capitalizing THE BEST, and I can already feel the challenges coming to that term. Surely, THE BEST is a subjective term. Who's to say who the best writer or artist is or isn't? Let's use the term liberally, to describe not just quality and success, but also "being regarded as." James Cameron is THE BEST blockbuster, mega-budget director in Hollywood. Oprah is THE BEST daytime talk show host. Mark Millar is THE BEST high concept guy in comics right now. Kobe Bryant is THE BEST basketball player on the planet. (Unless you're in Cleveland.) For just about everything you can think of, somebody is regarded as THE BEST. And that's what I want to talk about for a minute.
The very first line of "The Dip" is this: "Being the best in the world is seriously underrated." The point Godin makes is that it's an observable fact that the rewards of society are ridiculously skewed toward those at the top (regardless of the field.) We live in a winner-take-almost-all society. Being #1 matters and it matters big.
Cases in point:
- Last weekend, the #1 movie in America (Alice in Wonderland ) raked in 17 times as much at the box office as the #10 movie (The Crazies.)
- Peyton Manning's base salary is 35 times as much as other starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
- James Patterson sold more books last year than Steven King, J.K. Rowling, and Sarah Palin (chuckle) combined.
- And the #1 and #2 comic book publishers (Marvel and DC) sell 8 times as many comics each month as the next four leading comic companies combined. (But that one you already new.)
Why is this the case? Why are rewards disproportionately doled out to those at the top? Because people, Godin argues, don't have a lot of time, and don't like taking a lot of risks. Faced with a seemingly infinite number of choices (movies to see, realtors to use, COMICS TO READ), people panic- so they just do what everyone else is doing.
Go on, admit it. You are more likely to buy a book on the NY Times Best Seller list. When grabbing new music from iTunes, you'll scan the top downloads first. Every month, hundreds of new comics hit the shelves of your local store, and you might have a few indy favorites, but you're for sure picking up The Siege or Blackest Night. There are tens of thousands of webcomics online, but what do you read? You're reading PVP, or Girls With Slingshots, or High Moon. Sure, they're good and that's part of it. But a part of it is also that they're what everyone else is reading. And if a lot of people are reading something, it must be worth reading, right?
Clearly, being counted among THE BEST has value. And it's even more valuable in comics than other fields. Sadly, you don't need to be the best in the world to make a decent living as a teacher or a lawyer or a doctor. (Although the rewards for THE BEST in those fields is actually quite substantial.) But in comics, it's pretty clear you need to be among the best in the kinds of stories you tell to make a sustainable living. You're never going quit your day job writing mediocre superhero stories or doing the 23rd best video game webcomic.
And to become the best, you'll first need to survive "The Dip."
What is "The DIP?"
Godin argues that virtually everything worth doing is controlled by a phenomenon he calls "The Dip." Be it becoming a world champion speed skater, CEO of a fortune 500 company, happily married to the girl of your dreams, or writer or artist on one of the Big Two's flagship titles, the progression from starting to success looks eerily similar. "The Dip" is the long march between just starting out and mastery. Between wanting success and actually being recognized as successful. It's the grind. And it looks like this:
If you graph the time and energy you put into a pursuit vs. the reward you get for your effort, it looks like the image above. The basic premise is that in the beginning, when you first start something it's a lot of fun. Everything is new and interesting, you're getting feedback and encouragement, you're learning new things rapidly, and you're seeing improvement. All of which keeps you engaged and feeling rewarded.
Then, at some point, that luster starts to fade. Suddenly you're not improving as fast as you once were. You start hitting obstacles. You start losing. You start hearing no's. You start getting criticized and rejected. You start to feel the sting of missing out on other things that this pursuit is causing. You start to doubt.
I took a stab at chronicling what "The Dip" looks like for an aspiring comic book creator. Obviously, your personal Dip might look a little different.
For the aspiring comic creator, the Dip is when you've released your second book and it sold worse than the first. It's walking out of your third convention in a row where you didn't even break even. It's watching your webcomic's traffic flatline, as it seems like everyone is reading someone else's stuff. It's when you're up late at night, slogging through pages, and wishing you were in your bed. It's when you feel like the return on your investment of time, money and effort is so miniscule, you question why you're doing this at all.
It's The Dip, baby. It's real. And it sucks.
But as Godin asserts, The Dip is also the reason you are here.
The Dip in comics is a steep one. Most people who try to make comics for a living will fail. Most will give up when "The Dip" gets too tough. And that's a good thing. Because it makes getting through the Dip all the more valuable for those who do persevere. It's only because most people aren't willing to put in the time and effort and punishment and WORK to get through the Dip that there are opportunities for great success on the other side. Everyone who is sitting on top now, is only there because they made it through their own personal dip.
As I said, Godin's little book is full of thought provoking ideas. And honestly, I'm still wrestling with a lot of them. While he's convinced me of the great rewards that come along with being regarded as the best in the world at a particular niche, I've yet to determine where it is exactly I want to strive for greatness. And I think a secret for success in comics (and life) is to be really good at a lot of things and positively great (among the best in the world) in at least one thing. A big key to success lay in the things we choose NOT to do- the jobs we don't take, the relationships we avoid, the projects we put aside for something else. One of the things I try to keep in mind with every project I do is to figure out what it is that I have to uniquely offer the world in this medium of comics. Which stories was I put on this earth to tell? If I can stay true to that, then at the very least I'll be THE BEST me I can be.
NEXT: 3 Creating Comics Tools You Should Be Using
Tyler James is a comics creator residing in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He writes and draws Over, a romantic comedy online graphic novel updating every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also writes Tears of the Dragon, an epic fantasy webcomic. His work has been featured at Zuda Comics, and includes Interrogation Control Element, a political action thriller, and Super Seed, the story of the world's first super powered fertility clinic. When not making comics, Tyler works as a game designer and content producer for a software company.
Contact Tyler directly at tylerjamescomics@gmail.com, keep up with him at his blog, or follow him on Twitter.
Attention Readers: If you enjoy this column, you might be interested in checking out The ComixStreet Recap. It's a new series I've begun where I share and comment on interesting topics, resources, and events relevant to comic creators. The column is bi-weekly, and posts on Thursdays.
Previous Columns
1: Big Goals
2: Resolutions
3: The Great Idea
4: Research Part I
5: Research Part II
6: The Killer Pitch Part I - The High Concept
7: The Killer Pitch Part II - The Synopsis
8: Pay Your Artists
9: Zuda Comics- A Tale of Five Submissions
10: Creating Great Characters Part I (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
11: Creating Great Characters Part II (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
12: Structurally Sound- The Beginning
13: Your Reputation
14: Structurally Sound- The Middle
15: Structurally Sound - The End
16: Your First Con
17: Beat It
18: Memorable Scenes
19: Mailbag
20: Comics Dialogue - Part I
21: Comics Dialogue - Part II
22: Baltimore Comic Con - Part I
23: Baltimore Comic Con - Part II
24: Is It Worth It?
25: The Re-Write Part I
26: The Re-Write Part II
27: The Re-Write Part III
28: Taking Initiative
29: Setting the Table for a New Year of Creating Comics
30: Ready to Script
31: An Artist Ready Script
32: Going All In
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