Episode 2: Clarice's First Comic
After days on end of feeling lost (weeks even) Clarice has finally, clumsily, pieced together a first episode for her debut comic…
As you’ll recall, the whole process has had her questioning herself, her future, her talent and if she has anything interesting to say in the first place. The good news? Thanks to Tabitha, she’s quit smoking and obsesses instead on turning every little experience she has into a sketch and quippy dialogue!
Big things have been going on in her life, and she’s shown up for them…when she has to…but only so she has fodder for her COMIC. She’s been so consumed with it that she hasn’t had room to think about much else. The texts and emails are piling up. She really oughta fold some laundry and wash her face - but how can she focus on menial tasks when she’s making art?!
One afternoon she finally makes a breakthrough…
Relieved to have come out the other side of the slog with something in hand, Clarice (or “Reece” to her soon-to-be fans) sits down to compile her little newsletter and send it out for everyone to see. She’s finally done it, a real story; a comic. She’s proud, even. She can do this.
She scans in the page, cleans it up in Photoslop and starts compiling her email…it’s only then that she sees it-
And to think, Clarice used to feel like the heroin of her own story! Someone who could make anything happen, so long as she could draw it…and she could! From like, every angle. She was that good!
Now here she was, gazing out the window listlessly, watching the world go by below while she’s cooped up in her dirty tank top and greasy hair. Nowhere to be, nobody to answer to, and nothing to show for all this anguish.
Later that evening…
Snuggled up on the couch with Lewis and Tabitha, everything was as it should be.
Flicking idly through videos on their TV, Clarice listened to Lewis talk about his day out and about in the world. He had done a lot and had anecdotes and funny observations and thoughts…which she was mildly jealous of. But he also hadn’t finished anything. He does the sort of creative work where you chip away at something for months and months before you have anything to show for it…something Clarice is not used to. Clarice is used to immediacy, and receiving real time updates about the reception of her art.
She told him about her day too, and to her surprise, he seemed to think she actually accomplished a lot.
He was right of course. In the end, the real breakthrough Clarice made that day was creating something so shit it wasn’t even worth holding on to. And that, my friends, is progress.
Will Clarice ever get past the bad ideas?
A note: The next episode will be nestled behind a paywall. This is because I put a lot of heart and hours into this work, and I think that’s worth something. I also want to explore some more personal and sensitive themes with Clarice, and I’m shyyyyy.