me: The Power of Starting Something Stupid.

 

It's Christmas and I got a new book, The Power of Starting Something Stupid by Richie Norton. I started to read it and got through the first chapter.

 

My mom knows me. I am getting close to my college graduation (I should be done by December 2014 or May 2015) and I'm starting to look forward to the next step I want to take. There are days where I let all the voices of mentors and people around me tell me that I want to go to grad school, but I don't really feel like I want to go to school for much longer. I might get my MBA from SUU because it would only take an extra year, but I even hate to think about being in school for that much longer. What I really want to do is leave school in December and start working for a small press comic publisher doing marketing and advertising as I work on writing my own graphic memoir and poetry.

 

But people tell me that's stupid.

 

That's why I'm glad for this new book. I need the "power to start something stupid". Not many people are supportive when you tell them that you want to be a cartoonist or that your dream is to work in comics. If you have passion for it, they will humor you and maybe encourage a bit, but it always seems they are biting their tongue to keep from telling you what they really feel, that they thing you're crazy, and that your idea is stupid.

 

IT IS.

 

There are so many people who want to make it in comics and movie. The market is oversaturated with cartoonists, animators, and writers. SO WHAT?! People hunger and thirst for stories and information. There is always a market for books. Even if people don't read them, they buy them.

 

Also, I am going to enter the industry from the side. I'll network and help others. Then, when I finish my graphic novel and poems, I will have the means and friends to be able to get them edited and published. In the meantime, I'll be helping people who will be able to give me tips and advice on creating and getting published as I give them advice on how to manage their social media profile and market their works.

 

So, I'm starting this book that will help me to get rid of the voices, critics, editors, mentors, etc in my head that tell me to turn back and do something smart. The dreamer, creator, poet, and cartoonist in my head is going to have free reign to do all the stupid stuff it wants to do. I'm going to go for my dreams. My mom told me the other day (for the first time since I was little), "I don't want you to limit yourself...dream big."

 

The first piece of advice from the book is:

 

 

I'm going for it. A new step it starting soon in my life. I'm going to start applying for jobs with publishers and comics. If I need to, I'll teach myself programing and coding to help artists and writers with webpages, blogs and social media profiles. If I don't get hired with a publisher out of the gate, I will independently manage social media profiles and websites as a sort of agent. I'll make it work to work in the work that I want to work. I will have a job in comics. That's what I want.

 

I'm also going to start a comic project and finish it. That is the biggest piece of advice that Craig Thompson gives to those who want to write or draw comics. Look at what he's started and finished (Blankets, Habibi, Goodbye Chunky Rice, etc). He lives to start, and I would say that consequently he lives as he gets done with a work and can look back at all he's learned.

 

I feel like this is going to be an uplifting week as I read this book, so watch for more blog posts.