> My passion was the fuel for that project. Either readers feel that same passion by looking at what I’ve made, or they don’t. In this case, my ambition for the comic declined for some reason, the readers noticed, and eventually the lack of passion from both sides made the project unbearable.
I love raw infectious-enthusiasm, and I think that's where my past projects have succeeded most (I think back to when I got addicted to playing a game I was making for a game jam, and received 1st place in the votes).
That's quite a magical thing about making games, you can enjoy them in almost the same way as any other person would. It's so cool that you got 1st place in that jam!
It's a good distinction to make that starting off a project by asking what the "audience" would want is more of a product designer approach rather than, perhaps, an artistic approach - you didn't write this word for word but that's a very clear concept that stuck with me from what you wrote and it somehow helped clear things up a bit for me emotionally.
When the comic book culture changed in the 90's, writer, Alan Moore, first attempted to understand it and appeal to it in his writing. This, according to him, was a big mistake since "it isn't his job to give the audience what they want, rather it's his job to tell them what they want". This does comes off a bit strong... but then again he is pretty widely regarded as perhaps the greatest comic book writer ever, so it's hard to completely dismiss.
Regarding the factors of the "passion equation" and attracting an audience, you make some good points. I bet people differ quite significantly though in regards to how self-sustaining their own passion is; in other words, some might need virtually no reader passion to keep a project going - I'm thinking of someone like William Blake who was quite unrecognized during his life time but still one of the most passionate artists one could almost imagine.
I would be lying though, if I didn't say that reader passion has an effect on practically everyone; I mean, come on - it's such a great feeling and background motivation.
Your point about personally preferring to begin at your own side of the passion equation makes beautiful sense. I think you got something there.
There's another great story about how Jim Carrey decided to commit to doing what he's passionate about. His dad was practically a born entertainer apparently but decided to get a "safe" (and boring) job in order to be able to take care of his family. Even then, he got fired, which taught Jim Carrey the lesson that "you can also fail at what you don't like; so why not do what you love?".
This was great. I feel honored that you decided to go with my question and it certainly gave me some nutritious food for thought :)
Oh, yeah - and I really need something to link people to, huh?
Glad to hear it helped you feel a bit better about it. :- )
That thing about Alan Moore is also super relevant. "It isn't his job to give the audience what they want, rather it's his job to tell them what they want," is probably more true than it first appears. I think everything that I enjoy greatly, I enjoy because it comes completely unexpectedly, something that I hadn't even considered. I'm thinking of when I play a game I've been anticipating for years (like the new Zelda game), vs. trying a game I didn't know much about going in (like Sludge Life).
I still wanna read Swamp Thing, since after you recommended it to me so long ago.
I think you're right that most people do need some kind of confirmation from an audience to keep going with whatever they make. People who don't care at all are probably very rare...
I love that Jim Carrey story. I've heard it before and it still rings so true. Thanks for making me think of it again!
And thanks for posing the question, it gave me food for thought too! It was fun to get the opportunity to think about it.
That is also a reason to love Nintendo (in spite of how you may feel about the new Zelda) because trying new things is right at the heart of what they tend to do.
A couple of years ago I decided that, besides seeing a reveal trailer, I was gonna do whatever I could to completely avoid any information about upcoming games, movies, etc. that I might be interested in. It has made my experience with these things so much more vivid and enjoyable to go in completely fresh.
Another aspect of that Alan Moore quote is reflected by yet another Moore quote, which is more famous but perhaps a little more challenging on the creative side:
"It is not the artist's job to give the audience what they want, rather it is the artist's job to give the audience what they need".
Speaking about looking forward to things, I'm gonna be looking forward to whatever reader question/topic you decide to tackle next :)
Your allusions to various figures as examples -- Alan Moore, William Blake, Jim Carrey -- really makes an engaging read! I had almost forgotten "you can also fail at what you don't like; so why not do what you love?" which is incredible. :)
My favorite paragraph in this post:
> My passion was the fuel for that project. Either readers feel that same passion by looking at what I’ve made, or they don’t. In this case, my ambition for the comic declined for some reason, the readers noticed, and eventually the lack of passion from both sides made the project unbearable.
I love raw infectious-enthusiasm, and I think that's where my past projects have succeeded most (I think back to when I got addicted to playing a game I was making for a game jam, and received 1st place in the votes).
This was a fun read on a complicated subject! :)
Nice to hear which part stuck with you Michael!
That's quite a magical thing about making games, you can enjoy them in almost the same way as any other person would. It's so cool that you got 1st place in that jam!
Thanks for reading!
That game jam experience sound like a “win-win-win” situation :D
This was cool. You made some interesting points.
It's a good distinction to make that starting off a project by asking what the "audience" would want is more of a product designer approach rather than, perhaps, an artistic approach - you didn't write this word for word but that's a very clear concept that stuck with me from what you wrote and it somehow helped clear things up a bit for me emotionally.
When the comic book culture changed in the 90's, writer, Alan Moore, first attempted to understand it and appeal to it in his writing. This, according to him, was a big mistake since "it isn't his job to give the audience what they want, rather it's his job to tell them what they want". This does comes off a bit strong... but then again he is pretty widely regarded as perhaps the greatest comic book writer ever, so it's hard to completely dismiss.
Regarding the factors of the "passion equation" and attracting an audience, you make some good points. I bet people differ quite significantly though in regards to how self-sustaining their own passion is; in other words, some might need virtually no reader passion to keep a project going - I'm thinking of someone like William Blake who was quite unrecognized during his life time but still one of the most passionate artists one could almost imagine.
I would be lying though, if I didn't say that reader passion has an effect on practically everyone; I mean, come on - it's such a great feeling and background motivation.
Your point about personally preferring to begin at your own side of the passion equation makes beautiful sense. I think you got something there.
There's another great story about how Jim Carrey decided to commit to doing what he's passionate about. His dad was practically a born entertainer apparently but decided to get a "safe" (and boring) job in order to be able to take care of his family. Even then, he got fired, which taught Jim Carrey the lesson that "you can also fail at what you don't like; so why not do what you love?".
This was great. I feel honored that you decided to go with my question and it certainly gave me some nutritious food for thought :)
Oh, yeah - and I really need something to link people to, huh?
Glad to hear it helped you feel a bit better about it. :- )
That thing about Alan Moore is also super relevant. "It isn't his job to give the audience what they want, rather it's his job to tell them what they want," is probably more true than it first appears. I think everything that I enjoy greatly, I enjoy because it comes completely unexpectedly, something that I hadn't even considered. I'm thinking of when I play a game I've been anticipating for years (like the new Zelda game), vs. trying a game I didn't know much about going in (like Sludge Life).
I still wanna read Swamp Thing, since after you recommended it to me so long ago.
I think you're right that most people do need some kind of confirmation from an audience to keep going with whatever they make. People who don't care at all are probably very rare...
I love that Jim Carrey story. I've heard it before and it still rings so true. Thanks for making me think of it again!
And thanks for posing the question, it gave me food for thought too! It was fun to get the opportunity to think about it.
Yes - I'd love it if you had a link. Hehe
That is also a reason to love Nintendo (in spite of how you may feel about the new Zelda) because trying new things is right at the heart of what they tend to do.
A couple of years ago I decided that, besides seeing a reveal trailer, I was gonna do whatever I could to completely avoid any information about upcoming games, movies, etc. that I might be interested in. It has made my experience with these things so much more vivid and enjoyable to go in completely fresh.
Another aspect of that Alan Moore quote is reflected by yet another Moore quote, which is more famous but perhaps a little more challenging on the creative side:
"It is not the artist's job to give the audience what they want, rather it is the artist's job to give the audience what they need".
Speaking about looking forward to things, I'm gonna be looking forward to whatever reader question/topic you decide to tackle next :)
I get you about trailers, especially for movies, the trailers tend to just be the entire story nowadays. I don't get it.
It's funny how both Nintendo and Alan Moore seem to share that sentiment, they seem so different from each other on the surface.
Thanks Hasse! :- )
Your allusions to various figures as examples -- Alan Moore, William Blake, Jim Carrey -- really makes an engaging read! I had almost forgotten "you can also fail at what you don't like; so why not do what you love?" which is incredible. :)