Avery: It has been difficult for me as a creative to follow through on my own creations. I have ideas and stories I wish to create and share with the world. But works of art cannot be made through day dreaming, it has to take work.

Recently I released a brand new project called “Meditations of Superman,” it is an ambient electronic music project that I had been developing for probably two years by now. These first three tracks had been finished for a few months already, but what held me back from releasing them was that I had yet to finish writing the narrative for it. If you didn’t know, “Meditations of Superman” has a narrative for the listener to follow, and I wanted to make sure, that if this project was going to be released, that there was some kind of finished narrative in the back of my mind, because if I didn’t have one, I would fear that I would release these first 3 tracks and abandon the project if I was unable to find a satisfying middle and end to the narrative.

Eventually I realized I had over-complicated what I had initially thought the narrative was supposed to be, and realized I had gotten tunnel vision on the project. And let me tell you, tunnel vision is likely the biggest problem we story-tellers and writers cause for ourselves. We get stuck in a certain way of thinking, and this causes us to not think outside the box, even though ironically we are creative people.

After I broke through my own tunnel vision, I quickly came up with a better narrative. And once that was established, I felt safe to release the first 3 tracks. As of now I have 12 tracks or “chapters” planned for the series, so I hope you’ll stick with me as I release more in the following months.

As I write this, I’ve finished 5 pages for a new short comic that I have been developing. This is not the first time I’ve made a comic, but it is the first time I’m making a comic with the intent for it to be a long running series. The reason I’m making this short comic is to get myself comfortable with the process of writing and illustrating a series, but I must admit, it is very difficult.

This project, titled “Gingerberry” and will be an all-ages story. I’ve had it living rent-free in my head for years now, and I know the characters deserve to live and breathe, but the work it takes to write and illustrate an entire comic book series is an incredible task. Which is why I decided to start with a short 15-20 page short comic that is an inconsequential tale from the main plot. This allows me to develop a process for creating a much longer comic. (Hopefully!)

I feel like lately the creative process is becoming much easier for me, It seems the perfectionist in me has subsided and has allowed the artist to simply make. Perfectionism can cause one to simply stagnate and not bother moving on at all from beyond the idea stage or early production of a work, at least for me. Finally being able to push forward beyond the perfectionist will finally allow you to simply create, instead or constantly judging yourself throughout the process. Action is better than inaction. So go out there and make art, even if it is imperfect.

-Avery Nakashima