Bruna Neptune

You are doing a great job. Don’t rush your art for others.

Did you know that the common loon bird can't walk on land? This is a main reason why you will see this bird in the water almost 24/7. This was very interesting to me because it was something I went years without knowing about. I thought that maybe they had feet like ducks and could wobble around on land. Nope, they actually plop around on the land in a helpless state almost. 

This is also a reason why their babies are on the backs of the parents on the water. From a young age, these birds are taught that they are basically required to be on water.

Like a loon, creators can relate. Webcomic creators to be exact. As a webcomic author, I once thought I could walk on "land" as a duck may be able to do. The land being a novel Horror author. I tried but I flopped around endlessly and kept losing hope. Whatever I envisioned in my head really wasn't there. Maybe I was just not cut out to become a horror author after all. This was my first thoughts until... I learned I didn't need to be on "land" as a traditional novel horror writer like Stephen king or many like him, I just needed to find something that I could work around. Turns out, I was just a "Loon" who needed water in order to work with the horror genre. So... I decided to swim!

Once I began to "swim", I learned I was better at webcomic script writing as an author. Although family members had told me that I could probably just do my own art, I actually admitted that my artwork was more for fun doodles than to show the entire world with my stories. I learned that as a webcomic writer than I could simply hire webcomic artists to work with. That's pretty much how CANDYGORE: Creation came into existence. I am grateful I began to "swim".

I was a lovely loon on the waters of the writer world. But something that I began to notice on social media was how other creators were very quick to bring their projects to life. Almost overnight! Although Candygore did gain popularity on tiktok, that was nearly 6 years ago and I was still in the process of making more webcomic chapters for the webtoon. Pretty soon, I began to try and leave the water and try to run around on land in order to speed things up as a creator. But this of course led to pure exhaustion. Something I needed to learn was that I was going at my own pace and I was doing a good job.

Not many people ever tell me I am doing a good job... call me crazy but I usually have to imagine my own horror character telling me I am doing a good job. It works, surprisingly! I have been told before that I am not going fast enough but my body doesn't work like others and if I do try to go at an almost impossible rate, I'd lose myself. Heck, I probably already did once or twice before.


Another important thing I learned is that if you do lose yourself, you will lose sight of why you love to create and you begin to compare yourself to other creators, getting stuck in an almost competitive zone. That is not healthy and certainly won't help you or those you work with, if you are a creator with a team. Being a creator is not a race against other creators and although some may seem to be faster than most, we tend to forget that they probably worked very hard to get to where they are. We rarely ever see the blood, sweat, and tears that other webcomic creators go though at times. 

So like the common loon, I will stay in the waters and go along any current that may help push me to where I need to be. This bird is only quick when escaping predators or catching its own food. When I create, I want to sing like the loon does and swim around the best I can and enjoy what I do When I can. 

When you feel like you need to rush things for others, half of the time it's actually just your anxiety getting the best of you. Unless you have actual deadlines with a project, do not rush yourself to the point you lose sight of why you do what you do. Do not lose your passion for others. Do not rush art. The world will see your work and the work will pay off in the end ----- Bruna Neptune