Some things I've learnt about doing large projects over the course of doing Rita.
- Begin with an end in mind. It's very useful to have a narrative goal to be aiming for, and to have a point in the future where you are finished. Things may change, you may not arrive at that end from the direction you thought you would, you may come up with a better ending to aim for halfway through – but you're aiming somewhere instead of just flailing about aimlessly.
- Don't stress about schedules, but don't abandon it. If you're at a point in your life where all you can dedicate to the Huge Project in one day is a half hour, that's still a half hour of work that you're closer to the end. Sure, four solid hours of work would be a lot better – but a half hour is still tons better than nothing. Working on Rita has been much easier ever since my official schedule became “aim for two pages a week, don't fret if life gets in the way”; it frees me from traps like spending the precious little energy I have during down phases on making a page whose entire purpose is to HAVE A PAGE UP ON SCHEDULE, even if it's just a drawing of a sad person apologizing for no page.
- The easier it is to work on it wherever, the better. I'm told that Sergio Aragones draws his stuff on typing paper stuck to a clipboard; this means that he can work on an issue of Groo anywhere, even in a seat on a full airplane. I haven't reached that ideal quite yet, but I'm getting closer; much of Rita happens in my studio, but a lot of it also happens at coffee shops, in parks, even on the bus.
These are the principles that have let a complete slacker with no discernible work ethic like myself get a dense, 200p graphic novel done all by herself. Other people might have taken less than four years to do it, but I don't care. I've spent the time and energy my highly distractable, intensely solar-powered nervous system allowed me to spend on it, without ever turning a passion project into drudgery and an obligation.