I've been a writer here for a hot minute, and I'm gonna answer this based on my own unpaid experiences~
The only ones who've ever ghosted me are the ones who were looking for a writer and they were kinda in the process of choosing a partner to work with. Not getting an update sucks. Apart from that, I usually let people know when the project kinda falls through on my end. If anything, I'm the one who gets distant over time.
Only one managed to be completed.. and even then, the collab didn't work and now I'm kind of starting my final draft of it after nearly two years. Everything else got left unfinished due to my losing interest or me choosing to focus on the one I mentioned earlier. Luckily none of these collabs went too far into production so it's not the biggest waste of time on both our ends.
Each of the artists that were interested in anything I had to offer were all super kind on and off the project. I'm generally the one looking for an artist, so it's in my best interest to make everything as easy as possible for them and that includes being able to give them certain freedoms like artstyle and composition. If I wasn't broke, I'd have paid them soon as they were on board, during production, and when the projects fell through. These people I worked with definitely deserved to be paid at the very least. On my end.. I often find it hard to consistently write so that never sat well with me. Always felt like I was leading them on.
Nope. I mean, you choose the artist, you should have a solid grasp of what their art style is like. Making your vision clear is what's most important that way they won't have to make as many revisions. I also try to be considerate of them when writing the script to make sure that what they draw won't so unnecessarily detailed. Minimal approach would be your best friend in that instance.
I'm uncomfortable about leaving things unpaid on their end so most likely, no. If I end up still pitching a collab, it'll definitely be under the same standards I've set before. If someone else is looking for a writer and leaving it unpaid, I'd probably say yeah lol but I don't trust myself enough to pull through to the end at the moment so.. I probably should avoid collabs like that lol
Yes and no.. On the one hand, I'd love to be able to draw everything I see in my head and make it all a reality.. but part of me knows it'll be just another ability for me to painfully try to perfect. I'm already like this with music and writing, I don't think it'd be good for my mental health to add another hobby that I self-deprecate over. It's also a huge investment of time and energy, neither of which I have enough of at the moment. I wanna learn enough to storyboard stuff in rough sketches at the very least
My personal advice to you if you're considering asking around here.
- Be straight-forward and completely open about what you're looking for within reason. Please don't ask for professional level work if you're not paying, and let people know what your story's about early on. The last thing these people want is to jump through hoops to ultimately decide that they're not interested.
- You'll have better chances with pitching shorter stories (few pages or chapters). Even better if they're finished stories at that. Or, you could also start from scratch with the partner you're looking for (though you should at least have something ready that shows off your skills).
- Because you're asking for help, you really should be giving more creative freedom and offering as much help as possible wherever necessary. If you don't know what to help with, just ask and see if it's doable for you. Communication is key
- Try not to make any deadlines early on. Again, if you're not paying, don't act like you're that professional. Just makes you look bad tbh it'll most likely add unnecessary stress
Edit: Fixed some typos and clarified some points I wanted to make. You'd think I'd learn to double check by now lmao