Being a small Author is a lonely experience?

[PaulDevers]

I'd love to have more people to talk about my story with! I have a lot of concepts, characters, and story stuff to talk about (not to mention scripts) that I'd love to run by people but I don't really have anybody besides my brother. It's kind of bothersome, as without outside context, I can't really know if what I have is working or not?

[BarBarKetrab]

Yes, I know what you're saying. It does get a little disheartening sometimes. But we all have to start from somewhere, and if dealing with little interaction at the beginning will give me even the slightest chance of gaining a bigger audience in the future, then I'll take this opportunity and be patient.

I'm having fun, and for now, that's enough for me. I'm also fortunate because I do have a few friends who enjoy talking about such things and are into writing/drawing themselves. It's always a pleasure to discuss things with them.

[Rhonder]

Being a creator is often a solitary activity, and so feeling lonely is a natural outcome for some folks. I've found that surrounding myself with others who do similar stuff has helped to alleviate a lot of that feeling, for me at least!

Between these forums, discord servers, and my live stream community, I've managed to find a lot of people who I can either talk about making comics with, or about my specific comic, and that's been a really nice feeling!

But what does sting is friends I know IRL, who know I'm making a comic, just... don't care to read it. I know webcomics aren't to everyone's taste, but it's hard to swallow when a friend or acquaintance asks me what I've been up to, I say "I'm making a webcomic, you can read it online, I'm having so much fun, and I'm really proud of it, and-" "Oh, cool. Sounds interesting."

And the conversation moves on.

At least my mum reads it.

I super feel this (as, I'm sure, many of us do). All of my close friends and family are supportive in general about my creative projects but I think only like... 1-2 friends really read or keep up with it. I've definitely grown closer to them as a result tho! My current comic has the advantage of being a D&D adaptation so on top of the aforementioned 1 or 2 people, the group that I play with also reads but... yeah xD

Being a small creator has it's perks.

I've been trying to reframe my thought pattern when I get "only" 2 or 3 comments on my best stuff. I try to think, I must be doing something really well here if people bothered to take time and write something up. There's not a lot of benefit to supporting my art (in comparison to a high traffic comment section) so that must mean they appreciate it more than I realize.

Also when people don't respond until I upload something new, I try to think they're trusting that I've either got it under control or on the right path, I should proceed as is. In all honesty, it's a better perspective than I naturally have to work with.

It also forces us to struggle to the point where we have to be extra creative to make it worthwhile. Often times I really forget just how bad my art is in comparison to my current ceiling. You can take some niche-creative risks now before KPI and metrics drive your decisions.

Definitely not saying it's great to feel unappreciated, but there is a sense of molding to take away from the dessert.

I like to frame my experiences as a creator through this sort of lens as well! It's always like... would I like to have more readers and engagement? Sure. But those things aren't a given so it's important to appreciate the amount that you do get A few comments appearing every time I upload is beyond awesome and I can't take it for granted, especially compared to folks who aren't there yet.

[DarkChibiShadow]

1) No one to discuss my comic with in real life (my partner is very against BL)

This does not sound fun and I hope you're okay! Being with someone who isn't interested, or is against, your body of work is usually not a very pleasant experience.

[Darth_Biomech]

4) Comic-making eats up all your time that's not devoted to sleeping, working, or shoving food into your top orifice. Sometimes no time to even watch a movie, let alone do something lengthy like playing a video game.

In the last two years about all humans I've interacted with besides my family were the food delivery guys (It's better online, but... "You're procrastinating on the internet again, instead of working or making your comic! Lazy sack of shit!" self-hating anxiety constantly looms over the shoulder). Prior to the covid thing, things weren't really different either.

[Comic.Kikikora]

WOW sounds like you are doing comic as your full time job, I wish I can do it too ...

[Puck]

I had a partner who was jealous of comic characters and she said things like it´s perverted and worse stuff than that

[Darth_Biomech]

Please don't. Like I said my waking life is basically 50% work and 50% comic with no time for anything else and with constant guilt-tripping when not doing either of these two things.

[Lemon_Demon]

If this gif aint the most accurate representation b/w me and my readers...Haha