Dreaming, only dreaming

The big one. The project that starts you sweating heavily, that plays both hemispheres of your brain like a goddamn Thunderbird. The one that Hollywood will lap up and there’ll be a movie and merchandise, bubbly and broads and awards out the wazoo. Don’t lie, you know exactly what I’m talking about. THAT story. Trouble is you haven’t written it, you don’t know if you have the ability, the tools, the know-how. In fact, the more you write on other projects, the less sure you become. The dream shrinks until you’re sitting on the end of a motel bed with a gun in your mouth and the cockroaches are calling you a pussy. Guess what, you can’t win the lottery without buying a ticket, so get writing already.

Just Do It

When someone asks who inspires you, there are easy answers. I can reel off a list of creators whose works I enjoy and populate my sagging book cases; Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, Ed Brubaker, Bill Willingham, J. Michael Straczynski, Brian Wood, Hickman, Kirkman, Giffen, Abnett, Rucka – the list is very long. However, those are, for the most part, bright lights on far away mountain tops. They’re in a position I would like to be in, but the climb is long and arduous. More to the point it’s easy to get lost on the way or simply give up and turn around.

At the Engine, where I lurked for eight months aside from a few dumb posts, I saw a lot of talented people at different stages on the climb. Professionals who had found their niche, beginners like myself full of bluster and big ideas, but above all creators who just did it. Whatever ideas they had, whatever talents were at their disposal, they used. They didn’t look up for the lights nor back at the starting point, neither mattered. If there’s one thing that has really motivated me, it’s getting the chance to see some of those people show off their abilities. Whether it be through a Marvel comic or a Panel and Pixel workblog, these are the things that inspire me now. Getting to ‘see’ someone turn a corner, come up with a mad idea and ride it cackling into print or simply throwing shit at the wall and drawing smiley faces in what sticks. All the spaces in between, everything in the gutters, that’s inspiring.