Darling Stories!

okellymx 2015-12-30 06:41:22 UTC #1

How much do you adore your story that you are working on? I can't seem to enjoy my story/characters enough to finish it. I feel like I have to force myself to love it, or I'm just fooling myself. I know it isn't because its challenging because I draw hard things all the time and actually finish them. Maybe its just stress. Maybe I'm trying to hard to be perfect. I have an idea I want to make but that's as far as my drive goes anything more than that feels obsessively forced. I hardly get attached to anything fictional, even my favorite game series Fire Emblem I just can't get addicted to it. I think I drew 1 Fire Emblem Fan art. I'm pretty sure I'm just weird like that.

So I want to know how much do you crave to finish your stories and what not.

mariusthered 2015-12-30 07:53:48 UTC #2

How much do I adore my stories? lets put it this way.....

My name is Aron and I'm addicted to Swipe City.

At present I am trying to revamp 32 chapters to here on TAP, but even so I am still writing plots and stories for later down the line. My comic was born at a very bad time in my life and I suppose it became my shelter to hide from the world. ( and yes to hide in a world like swipe city is a tad disturbing ) the first thing I want to do when I wake in the morning is work on my next page and let my new story lines be born. "Fly my pretties fly!"

As for your problem i think you need to try something new. and art medium that you have never touched before such as oil painting or still life pastel or writing a novel. that might get your creative flow back. good luck.

AnnaLandin 2015-12-30 08:03:44 UTC #3

Grassblades is my baby. I love it so much it's ridiculous. I started crying while working on a scene in the upcoming part 5 because I'm so attached to my characters.

I feel this way about a lot of my other comics, but there are comics I've created - and finished! - that I don't feel any particular attachment to. I still finished them, though, because they were good exercise/were fun to draw/seemed interesting at the time - and because when I sit down to do something, I do it. It's a matter of discipline and dedication, really.

I mean, there are moments when I want to give up on Grassblades, too. It's a huge project, it feels overwhelming sometimes, and when I'm sitting there drawing endless lines of rooftiles or colouing foliage I wonder what on earth I've gotten myself into. Those are the moments when giving up is easy - when it isn't fun, and I just kind of hate working on it - and those are the moments when discipline kicks in and keeps me going. Finishing things is important, and it's impossible to finish things unless you make yourself stick with something.

Making comics isn't going to be 100% awesome 100% of the time. Some bits of it are boring. Sometimes you get stuck. Sometimes you colour an entire page, look at the finished thing, and realise you have to start over from scratch because you picked the wrong shade of green and now the entire page looks terrible.

But you have to, or you're going to be left with half-finished projects and abandoned ideas, and I promise you that's worse.

There's a difference between being able to draw hard things (like architecture or cars or super-complicated perspectives or whatever), and being able to finish a comic, because a comic is a much larger commitment. That hard picture your drawing might take you a couple of hours to get right - a comic can take you weeks or months, or in my case, years to finish. Making comics is like running a marathon.

I recommend you start off doing shorter comics. Like, 10 pages or less. Do a couple of less-than-10-pages oneshots, and finish them. Then start doing comics that are 15 pages, or 20, or 30. Build up slowly, and get used to finishing things. The more stuff you finish, the more stuff you learn about your own process, and you can start figuring out when, where and why you lose motivation - and once you know that, you can start working on a way to get around it.

okellymx 2015-12-30 09:21:48 UTC #4

I usually lose motivation before I even start. I have the outline for my comic and the idea of where to take it but I don't want to spend hours doing concepts and design before I even start the actual pages. I just don't love my story/characters enough to go through all that planning. On the other hand I don't want to forgo the preliminary stages and cripple my work.

Thanks for sharing your stories.

ashriott 2015-12-30 09:25:16 UTC #5

I'm very Very VERY attached to my stories and characters. I'm currently working on one of them at the pace of a snail, but I'm definitely getting it going still. But since I'm going so slow, one of my worst fears to be die not finishing any of my stories at all @_@

The whole "isn't because it's challenging, because I draw hard things all the time and actually finish them" feeling, is somewhat understandable, as I used to be like that a bit when I was younger. I did notice the habit of burning out from drawing harder things or loosing interest has faded ever since I managed to fully develop my story. Meaning, I used to burn out easily back when I dived into drawing a serious, long form comic when only 5-10% of the story has been fleshed out. I knew the flaws, but I still wanted the comic to be perfect. At the same time, I was forcing myself to make it work, and convincing myself that it will be good "at some point". Only to realise I might as well scrap it and start over. That being said, I am still working on that same story today, and I love it more than ever. Not sure if it's a similar case to you, and I'm not sure how far your story is developed... But maybe this might be an explanation?

okellymx 2015-12-30 09:30:48 UTC #6

I have the complete outline for my story and how everything will pan out. I just need dialogue, there is room for a sequel but only if I feel like it. So the story is planned just not the visual part, like character design and environments. Maybe it's because I personally don't care about such things when I read comics I find no pleasure in creating it.

Kura 2015-12-30 09:31:30 UTC #7

I hate drawing comics. Drawing comics is also extremely painful for me.

But I draw comics anyway because I love telling stories that much.

Tentakelgottheit 2015-12-30 10:12:49 UTC #8

I´m very attached to my comic Strayer ,but because of that it often feels like I can´t do the story enough justice and I´m constantly struggling with the thought of redoing bits of it to my satisfaction. I know this is kinda stupid, because I think it´s most of the time better to keep going and improve in the process. Knowing what I might have done better is a sign that I improved. Its still a struggle sometimes.
Like Anna Landin said, stuff like that is not 100% all of the time and there will always be things that you aren´t happy with, especially when you keep getting better in the process of writing and drawing a story.
The advise of starting with shorter comic projects is also pretty good.

KSlinger 2015-12-30 10:30:58 UTC #9

It's okay, I swing between love and hate for West too. I don't think anyone is obligated to love their story 100% of the time. In fact I'm surprised more people don't complain about being sick to death of their own stories, especially the long form ones which takes years to finish.

I actively try to hate the comic every once in a while. It's like walking away from a drawing and coming back to it after a good nights sleep. Sometimes you go 'what was I thinking?!' and other times you say 'actually, that's way better than I remember it being'. It's just good practise. Likewise, there are dozens, dozens of scenarios I could shoehorn into West if I really wanted to. I mean, it's a story about a Jed's journey, what couldn't I put in there if I wangled it right? So I have to be objective about it. And since there's no one else here to give me a good slap and tell me to get my shit together, I have to moderate myself. And I do that by disconnecting and being very harsh. I even flip coins and barter with myself, trading in existing scenes for ones I'd like to include. Everything comes at a cost. Desperate times!

As for craving to finish West, I don't really crave it. It's like my job. Only I can earn my living, and only I can finish West. No point complaining or wasting time, either I'm doing it or I'm not.

Jesus, me either. So I didn't. West is my first comic and it was more important that I start actually working on it than spend months in preparation. A lot of people would call that bad practise, and they're totally right, but unless you've made a comic before/have a guide/put in literal years of concepts and proofs, you're not even going to know what you need until you need it. How many false starts have you had? Where you've thought about something to the nth degree, so much so that you've done nothing BUT think about it and never actually written a word? It happened lots to me and I got sick of it. Infinite stories, dozens of unfinished drawings down the line, I said screw it and dove in head first. Could that be any worse than never finishing anything I start? No.

Don't beat yourself up for not being in love with your own creation. It's a refreshing and useful stance to have, you just need motivation. Motivation for me is imagining what I'd say if someone asked why my West went nowhere. 'Because I couldn't be bothered' is, to me, a humiliating excuse. I don't want to be that person. Or the 'it was too hard' person, or the 'I don't have an answer, it just fizzled out' kind of person. Get some fire under you! You can do a good job whether you love your story or not.

mg78 2015-12-30 11:32:46 UTC #10

uhm... i dunno how to reply because ive got a lot of ideas, most contractdic each other lol...

i think this: GRUNK its a sort of way... a way to learn, to be in the comic world, to do what i always like, to be able to image, challenged to do my best. a way to tell an idea, a story, emotions. but also a way to show my art, a way to go in the professional world.
so all these things dunno if they ll score what i want, but i look as they re for... dunno how to explain :\

for the last question, how much do i crave 2 finish my story... GRUNK ll never got an ending, or better to say, not a classical ending. GRUNK ll move in a end for the comic, just to let it end. but that ll be not the end of the story.

whatever -_-"

BraveHeartTatsumaki 2015-12-30 15:22:37 UTC #11

I really adore my story, it's like my first baby (?) xD even I see my characters like my childs, even the villains, but that doesn't mean I'll be good to them because of that.
Sometimes I get frustrated because I feel I'm not putting the correct feeling to my characters as how I see it in my mind, or I can't draw the scenes, stuff. But I still make my best with it. Sometimes I get too lazy in certain scenes which are boring, that's why I usually do them first and then do the entertain more.

Kayke 2015-12-30 15:35:16 UTC #12

I love my characters and story. I frequently call my characters my children and I think about them constantly. Even when I'm not physically writing or drawing, I will think of them and how they'd react in certain situations and how they feel about things.

I think in order to have a good story, you HAVE to love it. Making a webcomic is hard work... that you're doing for free. If you don't feel a passion for it, then why put yourself through it.

Like everyone else is saying, there are times when I get fed up and frustrated. I have to put my comic before hanging out with friends or doing other hobbies and sometimes that makes me really sad. But I feel like I need to keep going because I love my characters and my comic and need to finish telling their story.

If it's just the preliminary planning that's getting you down, you can try to minimize that... but if you skimp on it too much you might end up with a mess, especially if this is your first time making comics. I don't go as detailed as some other people do with the planning stage, but it's a good idea to at least have a script, character designs, and rough page layouts before beginning. ALSO, you do not have to do the whole story at once. Like I know where everything is going to end up eventually, but I write my scripts chapter by chapter instead of having the whole thing completely already. That also lets the story breathe a little.

efdvorsky 2015-12-30 17:16:39 UTC #13

I adore my comic Cosmic Fish, it is my child 5 years in the making, it might not be obvious now but it's also forced me to study String Theory and Cosmology adding online and local courses in the university and I power through out of the love I got for this story and the characters (and especially for ones that appear 3/4s of the way through the story <3 <3). I went through a list of things with my friend of small projects I want to do with the comic and she said it's a whole universe, there's so much out of it and it's insane. I took it as a compliment and let out a big smile because, yes, it IS ambitious.

However...

Yes there are days I get frustrated. Mostly because I feel I'm too behind in comparison where my mind is at; sometimes it's the art, sometimes thinking I may have shown something wrong or people aren't getting what's in my mind not realizing I have to give it time and be patient (I know the characters, everyone else doesn't) and also allow myself to grow since it's been locked in my mind for so long; sometimes it's that it feels like a never-ending routine and I can't break out of it to hang out with friends or visit family (last week a family member texted me we had an emergency just to get me to call them and find out if I was alive or not)

Sometimes I want to skip through whole chapters even if i love them and they're important, but only because I can't WAIT to get to another one.

I really can't wait to finish mine out of love, but it's as I said...it took me 5 years (minimum) to write and research it (and it's a mix of other stories I had, too) Sometimes you have to be patient and explore all possibilities. Sometimes it'll be shelved for a while while you focus on other things or need more time. If you want to do it, get to really know your comic inside out and focus on the good things it has, give yourself a little push and make small comics and ideas for you to test it out and see how you feel about X or Y.

Sometimes, at least have a beginning, as you work (since it'll take you a while to finish it) you'll see how everything will fall into place.

Think
Explore/research
Question everything (to make sure there aren't plot holes or inconsistencies)
Test run sketch-comics
Re-write.

I think that's my pre-development phase mostly.

agentfink 2015-12-30 18:35:44 UTC #14

Like everyone else, I adore-- love-- (maybe borderline obsessed) with my comic.

My husband is my writing partner, so that has caused some issues... I cannot move forward without seeing what he wrote, and he can't continue unless we discuss potential directions for the story-- we very much need each other to complete it-- but we are both invested in telling this story, and we push each other to do better.

We've never done anything like this, and we are learning as we go, it's a lot of work, but very rewarding.

As @Kaykedrawsthings said:

Seeing how many pages I've completed keeps me going.

joannekwan 2015-12-30 18:45:10 UTC #15

Lemme tell you, over the years I've come up with more than (looks at Word doc containing my ideas) 85 story ideas, and I really love only a handful of them. Some of these I created when I was only 10. I worked on them when I was 10, and they stayed with me at 10. I won't go back to those early days and revamp any of those ideas. Sure I enjoyed them at the time of their inception, however old I was, but I let them go once I knew they didn't have much else to offer me. They were part of my journey as a creator, they were my first stepping stones into more robust plateaus with characters and ideas I would really love.

What I'm saying is, don't be too disheartened if you're not loving what you're making currently. Just keep moving forward and try new things. Try and get out of your comfort zone. But if you really don't like the visual design aspect of a story, perhaps you can attempt a novelization of your story first? And then maybe do some illustrations for it if you don't want to completely sever drawing from your story-telling technique.

Anyway, I'll get into how much I like my current comics now. I've already explained how much I like Erie Waters in a thread I made a while ago (will link it when I find it again). EDIT: here it is (some great answers from other people in there too)

For Demon House, to me it's like visiting a bunch of friends when I draw it each week. And the feel of the series is heavily influenced by all the sitcoms I watched in my adolescence. There are definitely times when I feel like skipping an update, but I remind myself that I've written an ending for this series and am currently developing a spin-off, so I'll damn well do my best to finish it.
For Heavy Horns, this was not my first foray into romance. I had come up with a male romance before in college but that in retrospect had a lot of plot holes and ended poorly for both men so I thought this time I'll write a happier more believable story. I know the story itself isn't perfect, but life isn't perfect. My characters aren't perfect people and I love them all the more for it. For what started on a whim, it had become one of my favorites.

As for my other stories that are in the works, I created most of them a few years ago in college. These are much longer epics and I get creative waves where I will want to work on them some days and other days I'll want to write something completely different. It's fine. They can sit on the back-burner all they want until they're just right.

zetina 2015-12-31 14:26:10 UTC #16

i think i really needed to see someone say this. i just started drawing my comic 3 days ago, though i've had the draft for the first chapter since last year, and i started it thinking "boy, i sure haven't done enough thinking, have i". but, honestly, thinking is all i've been doing for the past 8 years and that has gotten me nowhere. it's really good to get an idea for what it's like, imo.

Bluejay 2016-01-05 14:15:58 UTC #17

In some way, you will have some sort of feelings towards your own creation, you know? Most of the people feels attachment, I couldn't imagine someone hating their own creation.

The same goes for me, I do adore my characters. Sometimes it gets in the way of the interaction especially the scenes where the character is being bullied, hahaha. I'm like: "DAWW, I don't want to be mean" but then I'm like: "NO. CHARACTER. DEVELOPMENT."

Shalmons 2016-01-05 15:08:23 UTC #18

I'm very much estranged from my darling ;-;
i think part of what happened is i was using it as an outlet for a lot of feelings that i don't really have anymore?
it still has some interesting concepts though, and i'd eventually like to get back to it...
would need a LOT of reworking though. especially all the elements that were only there because of whatever i was venting about that isn't relevant anymore, haha ^^;;

(that's not to say "vent" stories should always be reworked! they can be really fascinating actually. but for me personally, i think my feelings were getting in the way of the potential of the setting i had created ^^; )

okellymx 2016-01-05 15:33:42 UTC #19

I'd slaughter my entire cast if it fit the story and not regret it, but I doubt the readers would like that. I guess I just care more for the plot that I'm more willing to break my characters.

Bluejay 2016-01-06 17:25:32 UTC #20

That's another way to feel about it too, haha! But, slaughtering your characters is another thing than simply erasing a character that has participated in scenes without reason. I wonder: even if you did slaughter the whole cast, wouldn't you still be sad even if you didn't regret it?

I'm pretty much a weepingbox and gets attached too easily, but I don't think I would regret killing off a character if it fits the story too. Hahah