Today, comics is one of the very few forms of mass communication in which individual voices still have a chance to be heard.
Scott MccloudRead
If you just write the kinds of stories you think others will want to read, you'll be competing with cartoonists who are far more enthusiastic for that kind of comic than you are, and they'll kick your ass every time.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Write authentically rather than trying to predict what others want.
In this quote, Scott McCloud emphasizes the importance of writing authentically and passionately rather than attempting to cater to perceived audience expectations. By doing so, a writer not only finds a unique voice, but also stands a better chance against competitors who are more enthusiastic about the genre or style being emulated, thus encouraging creativity and individuality in storytelling.
Themes
WritingAuthenticityCreativityStoriesCompetition
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop to inspire participants to write true to themselves.
More from Scott Mccloud
All quotes →Nobody knows what will work until they try it. Some of comics' biggest success stories in recent years have explored subjects that no one was writing about at the time - stories no one had any reason to think would succeed. My advice? Write what you want to read. You'll have more fun doing it - and if all else fails, you'll always have at least one loyal reader.
Scott MccloudRead
The ancestors of printed comics drew, painted and carved their time-paths from beginning to end, without interruption, ... the infinite canvas.
Scott MccloudRead
Similar quotes
That’s my idea of what a portrait ought to be, anonymous and documentary and a straightforward picture of mankind.
Walker EvansRead
I've had to make the transition from sweeping in for 15 minutes, doing my stuff and clearing out, to carrying a movie for the duration - in a dress.
Philip Seymour HoffmanRead
That for me was the big turning point in my artistic life, when my wife and I had our kids. The world got infused with morality again. Every person in the world should theoretically be loved as much as I love my daughters.
George SaundersRead
A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.
Stanley KubrickRead
It is godlike ever to think on something beautiful and on something new.
DemocritusRead
I've always thought of the book as a visual art form, and it should represent a single artistic idea, which it does if you write your own material.
Chris Van AllsburgRead