I realised that a bunch of people I’ve interviewed over the years will be at TCAF this year. TCAF is one of my all-time favourite shows, and Toronto is one of my all-time favourite places largely because it is full of some of my all-time favourite people. Even if, like me, you can’t make it this year, check out these shows from the past few years.

Hopefully this helps you connect with and discover some great creators. If I’ve missed anyone, drop me a line and I’ll get it updated.

Annie Koyama

Annie Koyama of Koyama Press and Dan Berry get together to talk about how publishing works, the life of a book, how

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Becca Tobin

Becca Tobin and Dan Berry talk tools, fluidity, sandwiches and pagefright. Check out this episode! →

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Box Brown

Box Brown and Dan Berry sit down to chat about the links between storytelling and wrestling, getting into drawing comics and the

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Britt Wilson

Britt Wilson and Dan Berry talk about process, loosening up, being particular and having good taste. Check out this episode!

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Charlie Adlard

Dan Berry speaks with Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard about his process, how he got started in the comics industry

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Christopher Butcher

Christopher Butcher, Director of the Toronto Comic Art Festival (amongst other things) talks to Dan Berry about how TCAF works, how his

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Dustin Harbin

Dustin Harbin and Dan Berry talk at length about doing art better, what the proper collective noun for a group

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Eleanor Davis

Eleanor Davis talks from the comfort and security of a blanket fort to Dan Berry about hard work, getting better

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Evan Dahm

Evan Dahm and Dan Berry talk world building, hiding your compromises, maintaining consistency, making comics and then telling everybody about those comics. Check out

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James Albon

James Albon and Dan Berry get together to talk about education, creative processes and what a style is & what

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Jesse Jacobs

Jesse Jacobs and Dan Berry’s conversation about process, stories, sketchbooks and wilderness confection is made all the more dramatic by being recorded

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Jillian Tamaki

Jillian Tamaki and Dan Berry talk amongst other things about ideas, the evolution of a style and faith. Check out the Patreon

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Joe Decie

Joe Decie talks to Dan Berry about his partially true autobiographical comics, whether or not he really has a dog,

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Joe Decie Returns

Joe Decie and Dan Berry get back together to talk about Joe’s new big book ‘Collecting Sticks’, working with an

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John Martz

John Martz and Dan Berry talk about his work, tools, the differences between intuitive and planned drawing and the influential illustration

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Justin Martzbin

John Martz & Dustin Harbin talk to Dan Berry about the worst, most hackneyed interview question you can ask a creative person. I

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Kevin Huizenga

Kevin Huizenga and Dan Berry talk about rituals, creativity and process. Check out the Patreon campaign and help support the show! Download this episode →

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Michael Deforge

Michael Deforge and Dan Berry chat about his approach to drawing and writing, the development of his style and his

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Neil Slorance

Neil Slorance and Dan Berry sit down to talk about process, working with a writer, reviews and being part of a creative

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Ngozi Ukazu

Ngozi Ukazu and Dan Berry get together to talk about building an audience, building your ability and attracting the muse.

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Noah Van Sciver

Noah Van Sciver and Dan Berry talk about selling books, style, planning a project and money. http://traffic.libsyn.com/mitte/142_maketell_noah_van_sciver.mp3 Podcast: Play in

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Patrick Crotty

Patrick Crotty of Peow! Studios and Dan Berry talk about publishing and running a print shop, starting small, money and marketing. Check out

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Phil McAndrew

Phil McAndrew and Dan Berry talk about pitching a tv show, the similarities between working with an idea and squishing a bug and

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Ryan North

Ryan North and Dan Berry talk about writing Dinosaur Comics comic for ten years, writing the Adventure Time comics, the

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Simon Hanselmann

Simon Hanselmann and Dan Berry get together to talk about food colouring, rivalries, crossdressing and the idea of your career

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Sloane Leong

Sloane Leong and Dan Berry get together to talk about finding and keeping an audience, getting brutal criticism and what you think about

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Hi everybody. Here’s a quick update on everything Make/Tell. I took September off working on the show so that my alter-ego Dan Berry the cartoonist/illustrator could meet all his deadlines. September soon turned into October too, so the show will be returning refreshed, full of vigour and raring to go in November. Thanks for sticking with me. It has been the absolute most busy I’ve ever been.

I also want to tease you with rumours of a new podcast launching soon in the Make/Tell universe. If Make It Then Tell Everybody is a show about everything that goes into the creative process, this new show is about everything that doesn’t. It’s a lot of fun to record and my co-host Hannah Berry (no relation) and I think you’ll really like it. It is silly. Keep your eyes peeled, there’s going to be a website/twitter launching in the next couple of weeks.

Big news! I’m delighted to say that new episodes of the show are going to be transcribed by the amazing and very talented Renée Goulet. To see her in action, check out the transcript of the interview with Christopher Butcher.

Why is this big news? It means that the interviews and the many varied nuggets of wisdom, mirth and advice that they contain are going to be available in a more flexible format to a wider audience, not just people that do or can listen to podcasts. It means that they are a resource that will be searchable, accessible, quotable, easy to reference, share and fairly straightforward to mangle into a different language through something like Google Translate. It means the podcast has evolved into something more useful to more people than ever before.

This is all made possible thanks to the people who donate to the show through Patreon. It would simply not happen without financial support from the community that Make It Then Tell Everybody serves. Transcribing audio is not cheap, and when you have a back catalogue of audio interviews 3 or 4 days in length to transcribe, it is restrictively expensive for me.

At present I can only really afford to get new episodes of the show transcribed. I want to set Renée to work transcribing the back catalogue, so please head to the Patreon site for the show and sign up to donate a dollar or two per episode to help us do this. I need you. If everyone that listened donated one dollar per episode, it would financially cover the cost of transcribing everything many, many times over. It doesn’t take everyone, it’d only take a tiny proportion of Make/Tell listeners to make this work, and a modest proportion of listeners to make it a roaring success! Strength in numbers! Get enough tiny droplets and you have a whole ocean! If Patreon isn’t your thing, or you want to make a one-off donation, you can do so here through Paypal.

I know that this is something that not everyone might be in a financial position to do, so instead perhaps help spread the word. Telling people about the show and what we are trying to do is just as valuable to me.

I’m so proud of the podcast and I am so excited about what the coming year is going to bring.

A few days ago on twitter I mentioned I was going to put together a frequently asked questions page for this site, which prompted amongst others the questions below. I’ve answered them from my perspective and experience, so they are by no means definitive, but feel free to chip in (constructively) in the comments.

Where do I find the ‘perfect’ pen?

Speaking as someone who has been on the hunt for that elusive ‘perfect pen’ for many years now, I feel somewhat qualified to answer this question. The answer is ‘I don’t know’. I can explain from my perspective and see if that helps, but the short answer is ‘I don’t know’. This all depends on what your idea of perfect is. It took me a long time to work this out. When I started drawing with any sense of purpose, I was under the assumption that better tools would make me a better artist. I tried a huge variety of pens and other drawing tools without any real idea of what it was I was looking for. It was like walking into a shoe shop and trying on every pair of sports shoes, sandals and slippers without knowing what purpose I needed them for, but assuming that I’d know when I found it.

The key thing that you need to know when trying out different tool in this hunt is to know what you are looking for. The criteria I started with was waterproof ink, flexible line and comfortable to draw with. This meant I was looking for either a brush or a fountain pen with a flexible nib. This narrowed the range of possible pens I was looking for, and it became easier to rule certain pens out for not being flexible, being uncomfortable or uncomfortably expensive. Scouring pen forums, asking advice on twitter and reading reviews other people have written have all been informative and helpful, but only to the point of knowing someone else’s opinion. I found it particularly useful to spend some time talking to a pen dealer who exhibits at pen shows (yes, they exist) who was incredibly helpful.

To recap, I think it’s a very good idea to have an idea of what characteristics you want your line to have and how much you are willing to spend. It is also worth asking yourself why you want a new pen as well. Are you trying to achieve greater efficiency in your process? Trying to bring a particular characteristic of line into your work? Or. Are you looking for the kind of pen that can draw horses best? I’m afraid those pens don’t exist and what you really need to do is spend more time drawing horses.

If you are collecting small strips together into a book, how do you create a ‘flow’ / select the order?

A very good question. The answer to this one is also ‘I don’t know’. It all depends on the content of the strips. Can they be themed? Are they continuous or can you drop in anywhere? Are some longer than others or are they all one page strips?

My advice here would be to start by making the order logical – perhaps in date order. Then read it through (actually read it, don’t skim it) and then make edits from your impression of how it reads. Trust your gut. Remember that if you have ‘reveals’ or punchlines on pages that are visual or spanned across multiple pages, you want the impact to be on the left-hand page so that it is revealed on the page turn, rather than on the right hand page where it is revealed before you’ve read the setup. The hardest bit is making cuts. If you show your draft to someone and they don’t get it, the problem may not be with them, your strip just might not be that good. At this point, you need to be merciless and cut anything that isn’t working.

If you are left handed how do you prevent your big fat hand from smearing all your beautiful ink pictures to a blob?

There’s a short answer and a long answer to this question.

The short answer; by not rubbing your big fat hand all over it.

The long answer; You get taught when you are a kid that you start at the top left of the page and work to the right and down, which if you are left-handed means you are going to be resting your hand where you’ve just been drawing, resulting in that ghastly smudge. There’s no rule saying that you have to particularly start anywhere on a page, so my advice would be to plan your drawing out ahead of time and start from the top right hand corner instead. It may be worth exploring ink and paper combinations that dry more rapidly. I’ve found that Platinum Carbon ink and cold pressed watercolour paper dries fairly quickly, but it’d be worth trying out a few variations to see what works best for you. That or scheduling frequent and prolonged coffee-breaks between sections of drawing to allow it to dry.

Strategies for how to keep going if your life is a mess?

Again, I think that this all depends on context. How much of a mess are we talking here? If your situation is serious and the wellbeing of others is at stake, I’d say prioritise that over drawing. If it is one of those existential malaises, an eternal ennui that hangs over you like a cloud, then again, think about what you’d rather be doing. If the answer is ‘I’d rather be watching television’ then do that. If your answer is ‘I’d rather be drawing/writing/etc’ then do that instead. Plan your time ahead and figure out what you can achieve in the time that you have. I remember reading about the 1833 factories act and the idea of the 8 hour day, which meant that people had in every 24 hours 8 hours work, eight hours recreation and eight hours sleep. That seems like a huge amount of time each day to me, so figuring out what time you have, what activities make you happiest and the best way to cram one into the other works for me.

How do you come up with your ideas?

The eternal question. I think it cuts to the core of the creative process without ceremony or blowing too much hot air around. The short answer is still quite a long answer, and it is a three-parter for me. I read somewhere a while ago about the idea that creativity has three prerequisites – the physical, the cognitive and the aspirational and this works for me.

The first prerequisite for creativity is the physical means for expressing it, the ‘ability to make lines on paper’ stuff. I often get ideas from the physical act of playing with art, with materials and with processes. The act of producing ‘stuff’ for me sparks off new ideas that bump into other things I’ve already done and make new ideas.

The second prerequisite is the cognitive problem solving aspect of creativity. This is the ability to think creatively around a problem, brief or topic. This is the stuff that only lives in your head until you put it on paper.

Now, you’d think that these two by themselves would be enough, but the without the third prerequisite, the motivation to put them both into practice, you don’t do anything.

Each of these three aspects of the creative process can live alone without the other two, but just drawing aimlessly, having grand plans that come to nothing or even just the ‘one day I’m gonna…’ impulse don’t really cut it for me. When the three come together, you not only have ideas but you also put them together.

The shorter answer is to say that a lot of coming up with ideas is recognising when I’ve actually had an idea. It is very easy to dismiss an idea before it has had a chance to flourish, and it is a skill to take the seed of an idea and recognise that it may need developing until it is good.

I’ve been running Make It Then Tell Everybody for a little over a year now. When I started I wasn’t sure that the show would last this long. I was worried that I’d run out of people to talk to or questions to ask or worse, no-one would be listening.

I was exhibiting at the Thought Bubble festival this year and was genuinely touched by people coming to my table to tell me how much they enjoy the show, how it had helped them cope with their insecurities as an artist and how it had introduced them to the work of people they’d not heard of before. It was really great. Thanks Everybody!

So here’s what I want.

If you enjoy the show, please donate some money to help me pay for it. I’ve got server and hosting costs, equipment to buy and travelling to do more interviews in person. It’s not an enormous amount, but it certainly adds up to a few hundred pounds over the course of a year. In 2014 I want to upgrade my equipment, do more interviews in person and cover all my technical costs.

If you do a one-off donation, that’s great, thanks! If you do a recurring donation each month, that’s also great! Thanks Very Much!

Ok, here’s a couple of things. I’ve put together the means to send out a monthly newsletter. It’ll have a recap of the month’s episodes, some behind the scenes stuff, happenings and updates on all things Make/Tell. It will possibly be the best damned email newsletter you’ve ever signed up to. Think of it like a newspaper that gets emailed to you or a pen-pal you don’t really write back to or one of those family letters that get sent out at christmas, only every month. Perfect. There’s a handy box in the sidebar just to the right here, so go and do that.

I’m drumming up donations to help cover the cost of travelling to do more interviews in person. I think you can tell from the shows so far that I prefer chatting face to face. Not only do I get more control over the sound quality, it’s much nicer to talk to someone in person instead of through a screen. If you like the idea of this, donate whatever you want to help me do this. If you are completely happy with the show exactly as it is, then still consider donating a quid or two. It costs me money to do this show, and your donations mean I get to keep doing it. What I’d really like is for people to set up a recurring donation so I can plan stuff ahead. That’d be cool.

Talking of planning ahead, I’m planning on producing a handful of shorter more polished shows on specific themes. It should be fun. The working title for these is ‘Be Specific’.

So in summary, give me your email address and your money and I’ll keep recording myself talking to people.

I don’t know if anyone is at all interested, but I got interviewed by Steve Morris over at the Beat.

A comics lecturer and creator, Dan Berry both writes and draws his own work — such as the forthcoming The Suitcase from Blank Slate Books. But on top of that, he’s also launched a podcast fairly recently, in which he sits down with a number of writers, artists, creators, in order to talk about creation, process, and publishing. Make It Then Tell Everybody is the name of the show, and it’s quickly become one of the must-listen comics podcasts available. Informative, fascinating and warm, it also has some belting pastoral theme music.

That’s a nice thing to say don’t you think? Read the whole thing here.