For the aspiring artist that thinks they can't make their book because of money problems...

For the aspiring artist that thinks they can't make their book because of money problems...

I don't have a proven way that can help you make the book you dream to make. I can't say that you would have everything handed to you to make it. I know everyone has their own struggles and not everyone has the means. I don't have anything to say that will put food on your table or fill your belly. I don't have kids, so I can't say that I have a way where you can have both worlds. I can't say that when you get the book made and done that you make tons of money. I can't even say that it's not still hell after you make the book.

Here's what I can say, and if people don't want to believe, that's fine. I'm not trying to make you.

I spent years working in the industry as a lowkey, low-on-the totem pole artist. I had a dream in art school, right after graduating high school. I was busy with work all the time and eventually dropped out of school/college. I found small time gigs in the industry but always dreamed of making my 'book series'. I had tried throughout those years to team up with writers, but either got stiffed or they produced results that I didn't like. There was one girl I was dating who was helping me write one, and it was going somewhere. She worked at a video store and was obsessed with LAIN. She even looked like LAIN. I had to move abruptly, because I ended up homeless, and lost that connection. Man, I wish I still had her in my life. It might have worked out. Anyway... I worked all the time and never had time for my own works. I had a few stories I wanted to make and kept putting them all off. Years later, when I finally finagled some time to start, I was a wreck because I thought I had let the opportunity slip through my hands. So many other people's stories came out afterwards, while I was forced to work, that by the time I finally could spend a bit of time, there was no time left and everyone else made stories that were like mine. It seemed pointless.

In a roundabout way, I just started making art. The free time I was stealing afforded me to goof around for a couple months. The end result was crap, but it was a start. A few years later, I got a break, and really started diving in, but even then, I had to go through hell to maintain. Eventually, I had something and went full force. I realize that many wouldn't have the time or freedom I had/have, but here's what I'm saying.

GO FOR IT! It's worth it. Even if it's something small to start, or even if you divert for a while until you catch up to the other stuff, JUST DO IT! Be a soldier for your dream. No one else can make your story but you. And after you do it, you don't need dollar signs to feel gratified. It was a task that only you could do. You are the only hero in your story. You are the only main character in your life. Don't let money be what takes the place of you as the main character in your story, as an artist with a dream. All those characters in your dream need YOU! They don't need the readers or all the money that it will make to make life easy. Your main cast needs you. That doesn't make you a god. It makes you one of those characters in an alternate dimension that can see them from an invisible eye portal into their dimension. They are counting on YOU to make known what you are shown.

So, I can't say this world will reward you, but I can say that the gratification of making that story propels you into a greater world. The reason why you are dying on the inside is because that dream needs you. I can't say that you will have the world handed to you to start, but I will say, take the leap. See where it goes. Be willing to face craziness. And if it all works out, you may have had a wild ride to get there.