Black Friday and Why We Do What We Do
We are putting all of our current On-Demand courses on sale this “Black Friday” so if you want to learn about making comics or how to be a professional creator, don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity.
That said, I didn’t exactly come here to hype the sale. Rather I want to talk about why our instructors do what they do–that is why they teach.
It seems fairly obvious on its face, but the truth is that we all would make more money with the time and effort we devote to teaching if we were doing something else. So the real question is, why do we teach INSTEAD of doing more creative work or more work for hire work?
That answer is both more complex and also equally simple. When I spoke with the other instructors, what I found was our answers basically fell into two camps–and often a bit-of-both.
We love teaching…
Teaching isn’t for everyone. Many people simply don’t enjoy it and don’t get the energy that I get from doing it. I love seeing that connection whether it’s in someone’s eyes, and yes, you can often see that even during a video session, or in the work itself. When something clicks, and your student or client starts to internalize and fully use what you’ve taught, there are few other sensations that are that satisfying. It really is something.
Along with that love, also comes a love of learning. I thought maybe I was an outlier in this, but to this day, I still love learning more about comics and the world around me. Heck, I just finished an amazing non-fiction book called “A City on Mars” by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith that was all about the science and challenges of going to and living on another planet. Fascinating stuff. I love learning about new things.
Even though I’ve been in the comics industry for over 20 years, I still love learning about it and how the artform functions and can work. There are always new techniques to learn as a creator and always more awesome comics I’ve not read yet.
Not everyone is suited for teaching though. That’s the tricky part. We do our best to make sure that our instructors not only love teaching, but that they’re good at it, too! We don’t have a prescriptive style of teaching, just as there is no one way to learn–there is no one-size-fits-all in creative endeavors. But we do make sure they communicate well and are teaching real skills.
On this level, we teach for us. For our enjoyment and your benefit.
A sense of responsibility to give back…
An equally powerful motivator is also that all of the instructors at Comics Experience are working professionals in the field. And the field has, by and large, been kind or good to us. We’re able to make our living doing something we love.
When you love something, you want others to love that thing, too. And when you’re grateful for where you are and how you got there, you want to help those that are coming up behind you. Make it a bit easier for them than it was for you.
There is a very real sense among us that we are doing something good for you and for the industry as a whole.
And like there’s no one-size-fits-all for how to teach, there’s also none for how to create. I’ve said many times that as one of our writing instructors, I’m not trying to teach anyone to write like me. The world already has a “me” writing in it. The world wants to hear from YOU. The world needs YOUR VOICE, not someone mimicking mine or anyone else’s.
Our hope is that whether it’s through a script or through ink on a board (or a stroke on a monitor), that your voice comes through and that our instruction clears the pathway so that your voice can come out and be heard.
In other words, we do this for you. The world needs you and your voice.
Writing this has just reminded me that we’re about to hit Thanksgiving and that this year, what I’m most grateful for is our students and clients. They make me, and all of us, so proud and so fulfilled. Turns out, we’ve got a lot to be grateful for this season. And we hope you do, too.
And that’s my two staples’ worth….