Yikes. I’ve been away from comics for longer than I intended.
Back in February, I had planned to skip a few comic updates so I could concentrate on replacing and repairing the puppets for Super Smash Opera, which performed at this year’s MAGfest. I never thought it would take me so long to start up again.
I could give you excuses for the unscheduled delay. Some of them are really good ones too. I have stories involving terrible food poisoning or driving someone to an emergency doctor’s appointment (don’t worry, everyone fine now.) But, although those things delayed me, I don’t think they are my real problem.
The trouble is that I’m only capable of keeping up with an update schedule if I never miss a deadline. Once I’m off track, I have an incredibly difficult time getting back on before the next crisis pushes me back again. Up until now, I thought the solution to that problem was to always stay on schedule. But this most recent delay is making me think that there might be more to it.
I need to start taking some of my own advice.
As some of you know, I often teach Art and Technology classes, usually to middle school students. These students are great to work with, but, as anyone who attended middle school probably knows, this can be a stage where a lot of kids struggle with impulse control. And overly impulsive behavior in crowded class rooms can be worse than just distracting. Damages and injuries can occur. So, whenever I’m working with these overly-impulsive cases, I try to give them this advice: “You need to keep working on your behavior. But you can’t always stop yourself from getting carried away. Yes, that would solve these problems, but it’s an impossible task. Everyone on Earth gets carried away sometimes. The most valuable skill you can learn is how to stop yourself after you get started.”
I’m starting to think I’m that way with my deadlines. Yes, ideally, I should never miss a deadline. But things are going to happen and deadlines are going to be missed. I need to learn how to get back on track faster after I’ve been disrupted.
That said, I already have quite a few comics sketched out and even more scripts and storyboards locked and loaded. Hopefully, it will be a while before I need to practice that skill.
See you Monday.
-Marj
