I Entered My Dream Project Into A Contest (And You Should, Too)

A bit of concept art for Strandlands, featuring my main characters, Knot and her adoptive brother, Pickerel.

When was the last time you invested in yourself and your own creativity? I got the chance to last month, and it put me through the wringer - but I learned a lot! I write today to share what I've learned from putting my graphic novel project, Strandlands, in front of serious and critical eyes, and why you should too!

Last month, I found out - almost too late - that the Kids Comics Unite Pitchfest was soon to be underway. The contest itself wasn't what appealed to me, though: the opportunity to get my passion project in front of professionals was a prize in and of itself. When I read that I could receive a one-on-one critique from an editor that had worked on my top comp title*, Lightfall, I decided to go for it. I had two weeks to submit a finished pitch packet for the graphic novel I'd been developing on the side. That meant I needed to concoct a concise summary** of the first book in the series as well as crank out the first ten fully illustrated pages. Fortunately, I had worked ahead on all of my contract work and had the margin to dedicate all of my time to making the pitch as polished as possible. After working nearly double hours for two weeks in a row, I was able to get my pitch packet for Strandlands turned in before the deadline.

I won't be receiving feedback or meeting with the Lightfall editor until April (I will certainly write about that conversation when it happens!) but the lessons I've learned just from making those first ten pages have been abundant. I assure you that investing some serious time into pitching your project like this will teach you all of these lessons and more.

Lesson 1: Learning Your Limits

What are your capabilities? What can you produce on a quick turnaround? You won't know until you set a goal, get out your stopwatch, and give it a shot. I was surprised by how long putting together my pitch took last month, and it gave me a good idea how long it would take me on a normal week, which can help me budget time in the future if the graphic novel ever gets picked up and I have to go into production with a half dozen other work responsibilities. More than anything I learned my turnaround could certainly be better, which leads into the next lesson.

Lesson 2: Developing and Refining Your Processes

How can you make your process work for you and not the other way around? I decided to thumbnail, sketch, and line my pages in pencil and then color digitally. In the past, this process helped keep the charm of the initial sketches without forfeiting all the time-saving benefits of coloring digitally. However, measuring and drawing each precise panel for a graphic novel in pencil was a really dumb mistake. Digital tools would allow me to draw straight lines and exact panel sizes much faster than my pencil and square ruler can, and I will most certainly take advantage of them next time to save myself the headache.

Lesson 3: Strengthening Skills

What weak artistic areas need a boost, and what strengths need honed?

I wouldn't say I was confident in how I drew my human characters - I've always been more of a plant and animal illustrator, hence my ties to picture book illustration. And I can't say I was proud of where I was at with my layout skills before I entered the contest. But the pressure of a tight deadline and the expectation of showing my work to pros forced me to step up. For the sake of survival, my human anatomy, paneling, and environmental storytelling skills have been forced to improve.

A disclaimer: I had first two books already written, so it helped that I didn't have to worry about that facet when working on the pitch over those two weeks. Don't jump in headfirst if you feel underprepared! My hesitancy was rooted in fear of failure, not in lack of preparation. So do a gut check - are you not ready, or are you just afraid?

Also, where do your goals lie? For me, I know I have a lot to learn, so I had to put the hope of getting agented or published out of my mind. I'm just here to learn.

That said, I highly doubt anything professional will come from the contest and critique. But even when I haven't received any professional feedback yet, I've already learned so much just from entering. It's taken me so long to find the courage to do that, so I hope this can be a nudge for you to do the same with your passion project.

If there's anything I want to take with me from the past year, it's that life is short - it's too short for me to wait and hope when I could instead be taking risks (within reason!) and investing in something I'm passionate about. Throwing my hat in the ring was my way of taking that next step. What's your next step to getting your creative work out there? It could be entering a contest like me or, or it could be asking a friend to hold you accountable to write the first ten pages of a script. Heck, it could just be to dust off that old sketchbook and get back into drawing.

As always, thanks for stopping by my quiet corner of the internet. If you found your way to my stoop via social media, consider subscribing so you don't miss the next one. Until then, safe travels, and I hope to hear from you again soon.

*Comparison titles, or comp titles for short, are works that an author uses to convey more accurately what their own work is like to interested parties.

**A concise summary, or synopsis, is essential for pitching your work to agents, editors, or potential collaborators. Most people ask for a one page summary, KCU Pitchfest asked for 750 characters! It's tremendously difficult (for me) to package my sweeping fantasy story into such a tidy little package!