Could you draw comics for the rest of your life?

[TheLemmaLlama]

My question to you is, if someone gave you the chance to stop working tomorrow, do you think you would have enough discipline to hold yourself accountable for the work you need to do? Could you?

I actually do have the chance to stop working, and I plan to take it in about 2 years.

I don't believe I'll have the disciple to pump out regular updates, but I do believe I'll be able to 'do the work I need to do', which for me means devoting most of my time to working on my comics. Why?

• Boredom. My post-employment life will be pretty bare-bones; I won't be able to spend money to go places or access the internet for the entire day. So there's not much to do with my non-internet time except work on my comics.^
• But with all this time devoted to my projects, why can't I pump out regular updates? Because my working process is chaotic. I jump between different projects. Sometimes I go on a writing streak, and sometimes (less often) I go on a drawing streak. Sometimes I do behind-the-scenes worldbuilding and such, which would produce no immediately visible results. Still, on average I believe I'm more productive this way than if I forced myself to draw when I want to write XD

Would you even want to? And if you think you do, could you do it for the rest of your life?

If I didn't want to, I don't think I'd have the 'disciple' to do this in the first place. And yes, given my working pace I believe I have enough (projects that I will be passionate about) to take an entire lifetime to finish.

But if I do happen to 'run out' (work faster than expected, lost interest in some of my projects and have no new ones to replace them with), then no, I won't be able to do it for the rest of my life

---

^ "Combine rocks, sand, time, and not much else, toss in a mind just sophisticated enough to suffer from a lack of stimulation, and pyramids will pop up like mushrooms." - a quote from this Talos Principle fanfic that I'm quite fond of

[allenT]

To me it's not the comic medium itself, it's the series/world/story that is my baby, and comic is the right media to do it within my own power. I wish I can do 2~3 series (long or mid) in my lifetime.

I will/may have to halt comic-making for other stuff in future, but making my comic series is like a life mission to me. I do feel I can finish my current series in the foreseen future, but I'm not sure I can on my original-wanting-to-make series which is 2~3 times bigger. I will do it anyway.

[Nugtown]

Boredom. My post-employment life will be pretty bare-bones; I won't be able to spend money to go places or access the internet for the entire day. So there's not much to do with my non-internet time except work on my comics.

Yeah, I think it depends a lot on what you're made of, whether you could follow through with this kind of lifestyle or not. There are people who need a lot of stimulation and can't menial work like a factory job, for instance.
But if you're okay spending 90% of your time in a chair with little to no leisure time, then you could. That's a good quote btw.

[nkapit]

yes, but not for money, unless fate is kind

[thepenmonster]

Only if I was earning more from it than...oh, say... going on welfare or working a normie job.

[summermcallen]

Yeah for me it would be ok. Of course only when the payment fits. Like .. I must have money to buy food and pay my apartment XD
But I do my comic now since 3,5 years and don’t get bored of it XD

[CarltonIsaac]

Been drawing comics since 1991, way before there was any internet access for us muggles. And I'm still drawing comics today and will probably keep at it till I turn to stone shackled to my workstation.

[GhostlifeMaku]

I have not thought of that i mean i had dream to be a successful comic creator but never in my life have I THINK of that, but I'm a 10 grade so I only put 40% of my time on webcomic, 5% on reading, 5% on something not important, and 50% on studying, and never think of little details of my future or what will be my future

But what I do want is to make my Mom and Dad proud
And hey! maybe YES I will make comic for the rest of my life, and let's just let time flow

[TroyVSTheWorld]

I'd rather draw pictures than wash dishes, but guess which one pays WAY more
But also, arthritis runs in my family, so I dunno maybe I'm boned either way

[Kann]

I might get in a position, where I would not have time or means to draw or I might completely ruin my drawing hand. Who knows what might happen in the future?

But I gotta answer "yes". I have enough ideas to last me a lifetime of drawing comics and if I'm being optimistic, I could live like this. xD

[Caro]

I’ve been drawing comics for YEARS before it ever became a job for me and I plan to continue for as long as I can.

My problem is I have never been able to manage posting online regularly very well but its alright since most of my income is through traditional print publishing. I’m still at the place where I need to rely on the internet to maintain interest and run my Patreon but other than that I’m not super consistent online. I do about 200-300 pages of comics a year but most of them are for long term print projects or testing and don’t go online or only go to Patreon and I have been maintaining that pace for years.

I’ll be able to slow down this year since I have more money coming in from royalties, I’m getting bigger advances for the same amounts of work, and my Patreon is doing relatively well with little work. I experienced a pretty bad bout of burnout the last few months but I’ll still be drawing comics since its kind of my default mode after doing it everyday for a decade now. Its not something I could stop if I wanted to but I also can’t because it pays the rent and bills and everything.

[SpookyLocker]

yes, and i will do that

[thepenmonster]

Funny this thread came up for me. I've spent the past year fussing with comic scripts and the research and prep for those scripts but not a single one of them has been drawn enough to see daylight. Go look at my account. Nada. I thought long and hard about why I just can't pull the trigger and I realized that I don't actually want to do it.

Sorta. Let me explain...

I enjoy the process of making comics. I enjoy reading them. However I'm not a good fit for the culture nor the business of it. I don't draw in a popular style. I don't write popular topics. Any audience I do grab is tiny. And since I find parasocial relationships unhealthy and, frankly, parasitical I don't think I could bring myself to ask for money from a tiny group of people unless financially desperate.

Not that it would happen. I have no mind for business, little patience for customers and hold no love for the businessperson to begin with. And I utterly despise social media. Even the good ones like Mastodon turn me off after a while. (Nice folks at Mastodon.art. I recommend them if you can handle social media stuff unlike me) Social media, as you know, is vital to gaining that audience since social media IS the internet now, but I just can't seem to muster up the will for it anymore. Finally, any platform I could find will make far more from my labour that I ever will so it's hard to see the point.

Perhaps if the landscape changes (Spoiler Alter: It'll get worse as spying and advertising ramps up since the masks are now off) and I can make, share, and earn a living from it in a way I find palatable I could.

For now my plan is to draw comics for fun. Maybe make some local zines or mini-comics. Maybe finally use my Tapas account as a form of promotion for them. Print some of the better art pieces I've made out and try to sell them at local fairs or cons. Eat. Drink. Be merry. Die fighting a Balrog be reborn as Pen Monster The White

tl;dr- Comics are pleasant. Everything surrounding them are deeply unpleasant for me.

(Edited for remembering how my language works)

[TheLemmaLlama]

I feel like this is a problem lots of people have; that we get so tied up in 'the' culture/business of making webcomics and almost can't conceive of making comics outside those systems ... Which I guess is understandable if you're trying to make a living off of it.

But what about in OP's hypothetical scenario?

My question to you is, if someone gave you the chance to stop working tomorrow, do you think you would have enough discipline to hold yourself accountable for the work you need to do? Could you? Would you even want to? And if you think you do, could you do it for the rest of your life?

(emphasis mine)

You say for now, your plan is to make comics for fun. Does that mean the answer is yes, given the hypothetical position of not having to earn a living off of it?

(Also, I believe parasocial relationships are just when the audience relates to you as/feel like you are a friend/someone they know personally when you might not even know who they are as individuals - it doesn't necessarily need to involve an exchange of money at all. I would consider myself to have a few parasocial relationships with creators I don't support financially :])

[TroyVSTheWorld]

If any of my readers want to form a parasocial relationship by reading my comic, y'know, that can just be a social relationship

[thepenmonster]

The hypothetical is asking, "Would you work for free for the rest of your life for fun?"

I would say no.

However, if the public in this hypothetical were accepting of the idea that I didn't need them beyond the ego gratification and were willing to wait to get what I gave them when I gave it to them?

I would say yes.

[Lady_T_Musings]

Congrats on keeping up your comic

To answer you:
Yes.
Yes!
YES!
YASSSS! It's literally All I'd rather be doing. Writing stories, Drawing them stories out, and Collaborating with like-minded storytellers/artists. I went through a lot of soul-searching and career hoping before figuring out I just wanna make comics and draw self-fulfilling things haha.

[irresponsiblepics]

For me when I finish my volumes I will call it a day comic wise.
Will see if I can raise money for a high quality limited print run (I envisioned the comic to be on old manuscript like paper in a leather bound book)
Then I can look back and feel I completed and accomplished something creative in my life. Heck I'll be over 50 by then!

[TheLemmaLlama]

Good point - it's essentially the 'public thinking you need them and aren't willing to wait to get what you give them when you give it to them' part that turns it into work.

Me personally, I think I'd have no issues ignoring the section of the public who thinks like that and continuing at my own pace regardless, but I guess that's easy for me to say when I haven't gotten popular enough to face that situation yet XD

[system]

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