Back in the days when I was involved with APA-5 and the Small Press Syndicate, I would traditionally start off the new year with a column detailing my creative resolutions. While I may no longer have such direct and regular connection to my creative peer group, I do have this lovely venue to share my plans for 2012. Hopefully putting them out there for the world to see will help keep me on track in a way that I haven’t managed to do over the last couple of years. Here are twelve things I plan to accomplish in 2012:
1. Get into a regular schedule for posting on this blog. I like to read about other creators’ methods and enjoy writing about mine, too. I’m aiming for two posts per month, with decent content relating to “comics and comic creation” …
Get my long-overdue print comic output back on track! As much as I enjoy doing my webcomic, there are some stories that will just work better in print. So be on the lookout for:
2. Double Dip #2 – this one has a deadline: I want to finish it in time for Tom Cherry to take to SPACE in mid April!
3. Doghouse Funhouse #2 – it’s nearly done, and I need to honor my commitment to its contributors.
4. Watusi #28 – finish the cliffhanger from the last print issue.
5. Watusi #29 – collect my first attempt at a Watusi comic strip, which appeared in a variety of print and web locations.
6. Get my jam comic backlog completed and in print. As Watusi print output fell by the wayside & the webcomic took off, interest in jam comics (both from participants and me) dwindled. I still have a few to wrap up so I can close the door on jam comics as the defining aspect of a Watusi issue.
7. Honor my other outstanding commitments (I know you’re looking at me, Keith and Joel!). I tend to overestimate what I can comfortably fit into my limited available hours; I need to keep my enthusiasm in a realistic perspective.
8. Reformat “Isla Esmerelda” for print. I’m not good about obsessively reworking past comics (either I could learn something from George Lucas or he could learn something from me), but there are a few fine tunings I’d like to make before I get the story into print. I’ll probably hold off actually publishing it until 2013, since I’d like to offer it as a comic subscription, but getting it all “in the can” is an import step towards that goal.
9. August is the Human Spring’s 10th anniversary. I’d like to do something to celebrate it. Something nice, but anything would be more than I did for Watusi’s 1oth…
10. Make available select out-of-print titles as .pdf comics. Not only is it cheaper than going back to print for comics that aren’t related to my current projects, it lets me play around with e-books a little.
11. Network with my peer cartoonists better. As I mentioned above, I don’t have the direct connection with as many of my peers that I used to, and commenting on each others’ blogs just doesn’t fill that void.
12. By popular demand: write a Mitchell comic! I have a good story in mind, but it’s probably better suited for a print comic than an online strip.
That’s what I hope to accomplish; I’ll revisit it at the end of the year to see how I did. What creative goals do you have for 2012?
Looking forward to seeing many of your goals fulfilled this upcoming year! Bring on as many comics as you want because I’m eager to read them! I don’t know if it’s the same Keith, but I owe a Keith a project as well and hopefully I’ll be working on that soon. Nice to see I’m not the only one not good at celebrating my characters’ milestones (2011 marked the Idiots tenth year as a webstrip, but did I throw a party? Nope). If you need any help celebrating HS’s anniversary, I would gladly volunteer because I like that springy guy! Oh, and bring back LARRY’S KITCHEN! That’s not too much, is it? 😉
I’m planning to make as many comics as I can; hopefully I can finagle my working routine to make better use of my time! Sorry you missed celebrating the 10th of TFI … maybe they’ll celebrate the 11th?
Larry’s Kitchen keeps getting pushed further and further back, especially since I can more easily (and effectively) use this blog for the “zine” part of that comic. I do still have a Rocket Rockne story to finish (when will I learn to stop writing cliffhanger endings?!?), so there is more LK in the future at some point!
If you need help in the backlog of jam, I would be happy to do some panel 3s or panel 4s that you might need.
Yes, Tom, it’s the same Keith!
Thanks! I’ll definitely keep you in mind!
Good luck w/all your goals, Dale! Did I see you mention an unfinished Rocket Rockne story? Whoohoo!
It’s true … this may not be the year for it, though– we’ll see…
Dale, your goals look good to me. I wonder if you should revisit your goals in six months to see how you’re doing. I need to work on organizing myself to get more comic work done. I have stepped back from doing outside work because I kept falling behind. I know I can do better, but I have yet to prove that. I commend you on what you did last year with this Watusi strip. Seeing you do comics inpires me to keep trying.
Revisiting my plans next summer is good idea– either as a morale boost or regrouping as needed. Good luck getting organized to make comics again; even though I don’t feel like I’m doing as good as I can, that weekly accomplishment of a finished strip is a good feeling. Glad they’re giving you a little inspiration, too!