Wauw. Really? I'm starting to think "animeatru" is a bot or something. This is a freaking discussion, not a freaking job offer – sorry.
Anyways. It's true that artists feel annoyed by writers constantly bombarding them with unpaid requests to draw their manga. And I'm sorry, I'm one of those writers! I've read many writers' work, and honestly they can't all be the new Dan Brown. Again, very hypocritical of me to say, everyone thinks they're the best, right? XD
… Ok, I've actually read some good stories out there, too …
But here's the thing. When I sent my question out there, it wasn't to insult any of you incredibly gifted artists out there. Of course it takes a huge amount of effort for an artist to come up with what they do, and I respect you all for being just so amazing at what you do, and for keeping up your spirits to continue with what you do. The reason we writers ask for artists is exactly that; it's too big an effort for us to even try, and so we seek experts to partner with.
I was once an artist myself, I once had the spirit and everything to keep me going. But I felt I was a gag artist. I never thought good of my work even though the friend I drew these comic characters for loved my art. I mean, sure, my art was of a good enough quality that I could call myself an artist, I had nice proportions, I thought in 3D, made a mistake once and accidentally discovered an awesome way of doing shading… but because I was the one drawing, I also knew exactly where I lacked of my discipline to go all out with every detail of the character. There would be areas I'd do just quickly, or try to hide behind something else because I couldn't be bothered.
Eventually, I started watching anime and reading manga, shortly after I stopped drawing. I fell in love with this new style I had discovered, and after studying these Japanese stories and art styles on a deeper level, I contacted my old schoolmate from 10 years back and asked if he still drew manga – oh, yes he did! He told me to watch Bakuman, and suddenly I had found a new spirit, the same spirit that let me to the discovery of Tapastic. I wanted to become a mangaka with my artist friend! We were like Mashiro and Takagi. I wrote the story (taking his inputs), he did the (concept) art (as of how far we actually got with the project). He was so ready to create something for a contest. And, being completely honest, not to insult any of you talented artists in this topic, he had the art style of a potential contest winner. I haven't seen any art style like his, and that's also why it's so sad he lost his spirit after something happened on his path in life.
As for my writing at the time, this was just half a year ago, it wasn't exactly a winner story, looking back. I personally think I'm good at evaluating myself, and I do see a whole bunch of flaws in just my recent work. But not being a total self-hater here, I do believe I've moved a lot in just the last couple of months. I've learned to push myself and step out of my comfort zone, actually writing something successful and with a deeper meaning behind all the entertaining layers. And I am confident that I can win a contest with one of my stories, given the right amount of effort and soul into the creative process. But of course, my art discipline has never been high, thus my art experience stays with just drawing Disney-style cartoon dragons for my friend, and drawing complex hand poses when I'm bored. Yeah. So I do need to somehow pop the question somewhere, if I really do plan on submitting one of my stories to Shueisha's amateur manga contest and win a place in the Shonen Jump magazines.
Adding to the discussion:
What do you artists suggest I do in order to show up with a finished manga to a Japanese editor? Don't worry about the distance, I'm European and moving to Japan soon anyways. Do I just wait till an artist falls from the skies into my lap? Or do I take action towards accomplishing my goal, seeking an artist somewhere?
And if not amongst professional artists like on Tapastic or DeviantArt, where then? Meeting artists in real life is an option, however not that easy after my experience. But I'm open for any advice.
As I'm not really suited for making "small" projects only designed for showcasing my abilities as a writer – how would I go about attracting an artist's attention, and potentially start my manga career? Do I write a full comic script beforehand? Because some artists prefer being involved in the creative process of making a story, especially if it's for a contest.