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The Agony and Ecstasy of Deadlines |
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Written by Caleb Monroe
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Wednesday, 06 February 2008 |
Having faced my own minor deadline fiasco last week, I thought it would be appropriate for this week's column to cover the subject. Ever since I began these interviews, I've been asking my interviewees a few "secret" questions, the answers to which I haven't published, but instead have been stockpiling for release as part of a series of topical columns at some later date. Well, this is the first such topical column, and the topic is DEADLINES!
Deadlines are something every writer has to face. Do you have any wisdom (or perhaps personal horror stories) to share about meeting deadlines?
Phil Hester: Just the same sleepless nights and mad drives through the countryside to reach the FedEx station at the airport. The most fun way to beat a deadline is to have all your artist buddies crash into a cheap hotel room and bang out pages, golden age style. Haven't done that in years, but it's a great memory. We spent as much time eating and watching movies as drawing. Probably the most desperate thing I ever did happened when I was working on the old Batman cartoon as a storyboarder. I missed the last FedEx drop off by minutes, but had to have the scene into Warner Brothers the next day. I actually cruised Iowa City trying to spot a FedEx truck that I could somehow flag down. I eventually found one parked outside of a sub shop and sat beside it for an hour until the driver emerged. She was on break. Eating subs, I guess.
Felipe Smith: Deadlines can be challenging; but if you learn to pace yourself and stay on task, they can be easily met. While working on volume 2 of MBQ, I was on a 5-page-a-day schedule for a while. It was hard, but I managed.
Of course, I brought that crazy schedule upon myself; PROCRASTINATION is far more evil than deadlines.
I drew an 8-page web comic on the subject; it’s called “Deadline ASS-BEATING Vol. 1” (and you can read it at the end of this very column -Caleb).
Christina Weir: Nunzio and I have always prided ourselves on meeting our deadlines. We take professional pride in knowing that our editors can count on us. Consequently, we felt really bad when we missed a deadline for PAST LIES. That was a first for us. But if you want a horror story...when we were working on NEW MUTANTS (before it became NEW X-MEN), we wrote a two-issue storyline in which one of the characters committed suicide. We knew we were treading on a hot button issue, but the story was approved by our editor and the script had been sent to the artist and the art had gone to the printer. Then it was delayed at the printer while Marvel rethought their decision and tried to find ways to make it less controversial. Then, it was New Year's eve and we were on vacation with Nunzio's family in Italy. We got the news that Marvel had decided to pulp the entire story at the printer. They were going to just jump ahead to our next issue. But we argued that there were storylines in the next issue that would not make sense without the suicide story in place. We were given the task of rewriting the issues using the existing artwork from the scrapped two issues (as there was no time for an artist to redraw an issue). So New Year's eve in Venice was spent looking at existing artwork and cobbling together a story that would bridge the stories that came before and after. Sometimes, you just do what you have to do.
Ande Parks: I recently had to deal with a brutal two-week-stretch…two deadlines at once, and a lot going on around the house. You just have to lean on those around you, and sit down and do the work. It’s not always fun, but it beats digging ditches.
Jason Aaron: No horror stories yet, thank god. Fingers crossed.
David Schwartz: We were lucky, because we were able to set our own deadlines with Image. So, we waited until we had the book mostly complete before we set our solicitation date, and, even then, we set the dates far enough out that we had no doubt we’d be able to meet ‘em. It seemed to work out really well, and allowed us to look almost professional by getting both issues to press on time. Thus, thankfully, no real horror stories to tell!
John Rogers: I'm not bad with deadlines, generally. I once was working on a movie, the rewrite was so tight, the producers would call me every day from Ireland and describe the next day's set. Whatever pages I was rewriting for that day's shooting had to match those sets.
Oddly, that movie turned out great. Should have taken a credit. Ah well, hindsight, eh?
Richard Starkings: A letterer that misses a deadline is an out of work letterer. I created a studio of lettering artists in order to raise the quality of the work for which we were known, and to meet the deadlines imposed on us. If you want a long career in comics, whether you're a writer, letterer or artist, you will have to learn to meet a deadline.
Andrew Cosby: I’m sure I do, but I’ll save them for next time and leave you with this piece of advice – always ask for a deadline. I’ve found that most writers work best under pressure and with a real deadline. We’re like small children that way. We need discipline.
Matt Fraction: I need them, I love them, I hate them. They haunt you and curse you and inspire you. They get you up in the morning and keep you up at night. I'd be lying if I said the adrenaline rush isn't a huge and awesome thing for me.
Simon Oliver: As at the moment I only have the one book, it's not really an issue.
Josh Fialkov: Luckily, I have a bit of the OCD, so I obsess over timeliness. In fact, I generally set a deadline of two weeks before the actual deadline to turn my work in. I feel better getting work done as quickly as possible, especially if it means getting that check a little bit sooner.
Matt Silady: Right now, I make my own deadlines. Everything is in my hands. But I don't mind deadlines. If anything, they motivate me. I haven't been a procrastinator since college. I really had to change my work habits when I started teaching eighth grade. Everyday there were a zillion little deadlines from grading to lesson plans to parent contacts, etc. You either worked or you perished. I try to bring that same philosophy to making comic books. I always try to do everything that I do the best that I can.
Mark Sable: I actually love deadlines because of my aforementioned lack of self-discipline. At the same time, one thing I do find frustrating is the “hurry up and wait” mentality I’ve dealt with. Meaning, I’ll often be told, “Oh my God, we need this issue by the end of this week,” and I’ll bust my ass to hit that deadline, then not get notes back for weeks after.
Dave Roth: I’d love to answer this but I have something due in about an hour that I haven’t even started yet…
Thanks, everyone!
And now, because, for a column on comics, this column has been an awful lot of words with no accompanying pretty pictures, I present to you free of charge (and with the author's permission) Felipe Smith's short comic "Deadline ASS-BEATING Vol. 1:
Now you know the face of your enemy. Never forget it.
Feel free to discuss this column in the Making Good thread over at the Scryptic Forums. Or heck, feel obligated. I'll still talk to you either way.
Caleb Monroe writes comics, columns and other things. He is a slightly infectious thought-form generated by the self-aware website CalebMonroe.com.
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