This is from Brian Earl Brown…
I've enjoyed your series on advice to the person who was starting out writing. There's one point I don't think has been mentioned. In the original letter that inspired this series it seemed like the guy was saying "I've written a number of comic book scripts now, so why aren't work assignments falling into my lap?" As if he were entitled to the work.
I know, and I'm sure you do too, very talented writers who aren't getting any work and it's not because they were late with scripts or had writer's block. They happened to work for editors who had other ideas, wanted to give a friend a break or what have you and suddenly they're on the outside looking in. Something every writer needs to remember is that they have to work for each assignment. Nothing they've done in the past means they're owed work today.
I don't completely agree with this. I can think of any number of cases where I believe some writer was owed if not work then at least a special consideration. Sometimes — often, in fact — you go above and beyond what you're being paid to do on a job…and there's that understanding, explicit or implicit, that they'll make it up to you on future assignments. Or there's sometimes an agreement — and again, it may be pretty clearly voiced — that if you'll take on difficult jobs for low rates, they'll at least keep 'em coming. And when someone creates a new comic or character, I sure don't think they should later have to audition for work on it like an absolute beginner.
Even in the absence of something of this sort, past service to a company should not be totally forgotten. It isn't in any other line of work. Yes, you're right: A writer has to continue to deliver the goods. But I do think that what they've done in the past ought to matter.
It especially should not be held against them. We've had instances in comics where, as you say, a new editor wanted to give a friend a break — nothing wrong with that — but we've also had editors who assumed (often, wrongly) that newer, younger talent would have newer, fresher ideas, or who just plain didn't want anyone around who'd been there longer than them. Some bosses feel threatened by anyone with more seniority or a lack of indebtedness. I even once heard an editor admit, in a scary burst of candor, "I don't want anyone working for me who doesn't owe their career to me." That guy replaced a lot of good, experienced people with mediocre, inexperienced folks and, by the way, didn't last long in the position.
I don't think the fellow I scolded about lateness thought he was entitled to the work, so much as that he thought that once he was established, getting assignments should get easier. And he's right. It should…and it usually does. Once you're an established, known quantity in any field, it's easier…unless, of course, you develop a bad reputation. That was this writer's mistake. By being late, he'd developed a bad rep. He could also have achieved that by handing in bad work on time. My friend Mike Royer, who's as dependable and professional as anyone who's ever worked in comics, likes to quote a veteran cartoonist named Sparky Moore. Sparky used to say, "You get your first job based on your ability and the rest based on your reli-ability." There's something to that, especially if you define "reli-ability" to include being able to maintain your standard of work.
All of this discussion though of how to get work is skirting the most important factor. Even if you constantly produce quality material on time, there's another very good reason why you might not get hired or be able to sell what you write or draw. It's the same reason good, reliable actors are often unemployed.
And I'm sorry for the cliffhanger but I have to go deal with a dead car today. My old one has breathed its last and I'm dickering for its successor. So I don't have time now to do justice to the topic of what I call The Big Reason freelancers and creative people often go without jobs. I'll try to write about it before the weekend is out. Thank you for the message, Brian. I agree with you…some of the time, which isn't bad. I don't even agree with myself all of the time.
