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Not if you play it safe, not if things work out, not living under the ideas of 'maybe', 'but', or 'if' but you knew you would succeed no matter how outlandish the dream may be? What would you do? Where would you aim? What would you give yourself fully over to so you can live your dream?
Really, think about it. Where would you try to get work? What work would you chase? Clearly think of it. Be honest with yourself. Don't say a rockstar if you honestly know nothing about music, but look at who you are and your knowledge and skill sets and talents and ask, if I give my all, where do I want to be? Where do I want to be? Take some time to allow your mind to go to that place and see it. Go ahead, I will wait.
Got it? Take a step to go there. I know what you are thinking, "But it's hard.", "I don't know how.", "I can't do it.", "The odds are against me.", "I don't have everything I need to get it.", "I don't have the money.", "I don't have the connections.", "I (fill in your own reason to not try.)" But lets go back to the idea that you cannot fail. Because the honest truth is, so long as you try, you are willing to work, you are willing to really give your all to it, if you are willing to push through the rough times and times where you need to grow, learn, save, scrape, step outside of your comfort zone, and if you are willing to invest the time needed to get there, you cannot fail.
Honestly, all the people who say it is too hard and quit are the only ones who fail. Success is not always getting what you want the instant you want it. Heck, if that is the measuring stick for success, no one is ever successful. Success comes from sticking it out.
So sit down and plan what you want. Be specific. For example, not that I want to be a comic book artist. Be specific. Say I want to be the artist on X-Men. Better. But be more specific. I want to be the artist on X-Men and change the way comics are seen because I love comics so much I will go everywhere I can as an evangelist for the X-Men and comics! There you go! Dream big! Know what you want specifically. Now move toward it.
But...how?
Odds are you will not make this claim and instantly be the X-Men artist, odds are you won't even be a Marvel artist. BUT, you take steps toward that. Not just anything, but toward the dream. Submit TO Marvel. Your submissions SHOULD be X-Men. Don't stop there. Do your own stories of the X-Men and post them. (Don't try to make money on them or try to make them look 'official', make sure it is clear this is fan work.) All your effort has to be toward the dream. One of the ways to lose the dream and/or your drive is to do things that have nothing to do with what you want to do. Then work on the next step. Be the evangelist. Go to cons and shops and share your art and love of comics. Do a podcast or blog talking about comics and the X-Men. Talk to others who love them. Talk to others who don't. Promote people doing what you want to do. They may notice and return the favor. There are always ways to go out there and make a mark. If you stay at it, soon editors remember your name, maybe pros doing it may remember you and promote you. And just maybe Marvel may think, this guy loves comics, loves the X-Men, his fan work and samples are good, he works hard. Let's give him a shot.
That will give you way more of a chance of living the dream than just being one of the thousands of others who just send random submissions once a year.
Do you see how working like you cannot fail, being specific, and knowing what your real dream is and how you can take small steps to move you that way can get you there? Good. Now plan out what your honest dream is and start on it. Do not worry about all the things against you or how hard it is. Give it all and work hard and dream big. Because if you are willing, you cannot fail.
Dwayne
Really, think about it. Where would you try to get work? What work would you chase? Clearly think of it. Be honest with yourself. Don't say a rockstar if you honestly know nothing about music, but look at who you are and your knowledge and skill sets and talents and ask, if I give my all, where do I want to be? Where do I want to be? Take some time to allow your mind to go to that place and see it. Go ahead, I will wait.
Got it? Take a step to go there. I know what you are thinking, "But it's hard.", "I don't know how.", "I can't do it.", "The odds are against me.", "I don't have everything I need to get it.", "I don't have the money.", "I don't have the connections.", "I (fill in your own reason to not try.)" But lets go back to the idea that you cannot fail. Because the honest truth is, so long as you try, you are willing to work, you are willing to really give your all to it, if you are willing to push through the rough times and times where you need to grow, learn, save, scrape, step outside of your comfort zone, and if you are willing to invest the time needed to get there, you cannot fail.
Honestly, all the people who say it is too hard and quit are the only ones who fail. Success is not always getting what you want the instant you want it. Heck, if that is the measuring stick for success, no one is ever successful. Success comes from sticking it out.
So sit down and plan what you want. Be specific. For example, not that I want to be a comic book artist. Be specific. Say I want to be the artist on X-Men. Better. But be more specific. I want to be the artist on X-Men and change the way comics are seen because I love comics so much I will go everywhere I can as an evangelist for the X-Men and comics! There you go! Dream big! Know what you want specifically. Now move toward it.
But...how?
Odds are you will not make this claim and instantly be the X-Men artist, odds are you won't even be a Marvel artist. BUT, you take steps toward that. Not just anything, but toward the dream. Submit TO Marvel. Your submissions SHOULD be X-Men. Don't stop there. Do your own stories of the X-Men and post them. (Don't try to make money on them or try to make them look 'official', make sure it is clear this is fan work.) All your effort has to be toward the dream. One of the ways to lose the dream and/or your drive is to do things that have nothing to do with what you want to do. Then work on the next step. Be the evangelist. Go to cons and shops and share your art and love of comics. Do a podcast or blog talking about comics and the X-Men. Talk to others who love them. Talk to others who don't. Promote people doing what you want to do. They may notice and return the favor. There are always ways to go out there and make a mark. If you stay at it, soon editors remember your name, maybe pros doing it may remember you and promote you. And just maybe Marvel may think, this guy loves comics, loves the X-Men, his fan work and samples are good, he works hard. Let's give him a shot.
That will give you way more of a chance of living the dream than just being one of the thousands of others who just send random submissions once a year.
Do you see how working like you cannot fail, being specific, and knowing what your real dream is and how you can take small steps to move you that way can get you there? Good. Now plan out what your honest dream is and start on it. Do not worry about all the things against you or how hard it is. Give it all and work hard and dream big. Because if you are willing, you cannot fail.
Dwayne
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Broken...
It begins with a tug. A movement so small to be almost unnoticed. Then, as if an eruption, the thoughts flood. Hate, fear, panic, dread, left unfocused. The enemy stands before me once more. Bearing my own eyes. They lock in hate. I feel the need to fight, to yield, to break. My will bent, broken under his weight. The world around me changes. Becomes black and white. No shade between dark and bright. Only shadows flashing over the void. Darkness overtaking the light. Inside the embers of old memories begin to ignite. A fire that burns cold, bitter, and cruel. An inferno that turns to ash until nothing is left. Yet can breed its own fuel. It burns in the eyes of my enemy. Twisting his vision, torture to his eye. The world becomes cackling nightmares. Where even truth is believed to be a lie. And I am crushed by his words. Forced to bend my knee to the floor. Too tired and broken to resist. I am his plunder. My life, his reward for war. I feel the fires licking their spiteful tongues to
Freak Brothers
A mini episode of the show I am on, The Freak Brothers, has been released! Go check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FSLv3V2RzI
Jason and Pennywise
My Jason and Pennywise available on shirts, prints, and more! For Halloween or anytime you want to show your love of horror!
Jason http://bit.ly/jason_camp
Pennywise http://bit.ly/all_float
#FridayThe13th #ITChapter2 #Pennywise #JasonVoorhees #horrorfans #horror
My animation
My animation of a hangbanging Grim Reaper I made in Clip Studios.
© 2013 - 2024 dwaynebiddixart
Comments9
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Wow, I can't believe there are so few comments on this! This journal is amazing! I bookmarked it a while back and forgot about it, but I re-read it today and I am re-inspired. 
This advice is so true, and so important for success, especially in the creative world. It's a very hard road, and a long one, but you can get somewhere really good if you stick it out, just like you said - even if you don't have much, or any, talent, but keep working. If you have a little more talent, and the same work ethic, you can get to some really great places (in my opinion)! So much of this is work, persistence, skill-building, and learning how to handle failure well. No one likes failing things, or being rejected, but you have to learn to cope with it in the arts, and relationships, unless maybe you have some miraculous life where you are never or rarely rejected - but that seems rare to impossible, if you actually put yourself out there.
If I could not fail...I would do pretty much everything. XD Poetry, drawing, painting, sculpting, music, theater, comedy, dance... Most important to me is to make a family. If I can keep writing and creating art while I do that, which should be doable, then I think I'll be pretty happy.
It's hard to focus on what kind of career I might like because, well, it's not that important to me. What I want is my own loving family, one which I hope to stay home with and take care of rather than working. I don't know if it will be affordable, but I hope so.
This advice is so true, and so important for success, especially in the creative world. It's a very hard road, and a long one, but you can get somewhere really good if you stick it out, just like you said - even if you don't have much, or any, talent, but keep working. If you have a little more talent, and the same work ethic, you can get to some really great places (in my opinion)! So much of this is work, persistence, skill-building, and learning how to handle failure well. No one likes failing things, or being rejected, but you have to learn to cope with it in the arts, and relationships, unless maybe you have some miraculous life where you are never or rarely rejected - but that seems rare to impossible, if you actually put yourself out there.If I could not fail...I would do pretty much everything. XD Poetry, drawing, painting, sculpting, music, theater, comedy, dance... Most important to me is to make a family. If I can keep writing and creating art while I do that, which should be doable, then I think I'll be pretty happy.
It's hard to focus on what kind of career I might like because, well, it's not that important to me. What I want is my own loving family, one which I hope to stay home with and take care of rather than working. I don't know if it will be affordable, but I hope so.