Depression and being able to balance work with making your comics

[Lioedevon427]

Just wondering- how have y’all been able to keep up the energy for working on your comic?
It took me about a year to complete my first chapter with some pages taking a week and others a month, due to both depression, being in school and having a part time job-
How have some of y’all been able keep up continuously making your comic, because I would like for chapter 2 to not take a year.
Edit: pls note that while I’m not replying, I am reading all the responses and do appreciate them lots <3

[NickRowler]

I am someone who deal with health problems and depression.

I will say, remember that any progress is progress. Finding time to make anything is going to help you than just avoiding it. However, you should also not work yourself until you crash. School work or making sure you are well rested before going to work or classes should take priority. I have heard some creators who took hiatus during their college years because balancing both was just too much for them.

Sometimes with me, I have my up days and my down days. And sometimes I am more productive on my up days. And will focus on getting work done then. But I noticed on my down days, it is difficult to get anything done and I try to focus on something that will cheer me up instead.

I do wish you the best, dealing with that stuff can be hard.

[sable40k]

What helps the most is getting started on some small part of the comic, no matter how small. Like "I'm just going to draw some word balloons", or "I'll just refine this one sketch a little".

Actually getting started is the hardest part, and will often lead into doing a little more work, and a little more...

That's just what works for me, though. Starting with small, low-expectation tasks that I can't hang a ton of expectations or other junk on.

[Kuma]

Developing a strong routine works. I had my own issues in the past, but since I started writing as a day job I rarely have bouts of depression stopping me from working. It slows my work load, but it doesn't stop it.

[ccmatta]

I think I can talk a little about it. I have a few diagnosed disorders. Severe depression included. I don't have the energy to work everytime, so what I do is work a lot when I do. But it's easy for me to say, as I'm not working right now (i'm in a outpatiante treatment in a mental hospital for 1 1/2 year). I try to have a lot of pages done so when my energy burns out, I have something to post. So on my good days, I'd make >10 pages a week. Right now i'm making less than 5. When I was working, my depression was more stable so I could draw with more stability, I'd draw at night and work at daytime. And would make the same thing as I said, draw as much as I could when I had the energy for it, than take some time off. (BUT have in mind that my depression is unstable because I have bpd, so my mood is crazy too, so maybe it may not work with you...)

Take your time when you don't have the energy though, don't force yourself Don't be afraid to take time off. I had to go through hiatus a few times because of depressives episodes. And I've always been sincere with my readers, I've always told them why I was going to stop posting for a while and they all undestood and stayed with me through it.

Try to always remember why you're making your comic, try to motivate yourself! See your progress, always see the pages you already drew, read your comic and see it like "omg, I did this!!!", keep the mentality that you can make it. Read your script, read the things you planed to tell people through your comic, use everything you can to motivate yourself. I think loving your story is what helps the most when you want to keep your project when you have depression trying to stop you. I know it was what made me keep me going through my bad bad days, so I hope you can do it too!

Sorry if I can't talk much about balacing work with making comics, I had an easy job that I could draw in my spare time so it was easy for me to make my comic while working ^^'

[EncryptedWriting]

First off, I just want to give you a cyber hug as I have been there. I've had serious depression and bipolar disorder complications, and I know how difficult it can be for someone to write or draw.

Burn out feels so easy to come by, and you just don't have that "drive" to really commit.

My best tip for YOU is to not force yourself. You need to do what you need to do for your mental health and physical health. I didn't start writing until I found myself wanting to write. I let my inspiration come back, and even if it isn't there, I know that if I am in a depression episode and can't write, I won't. I will let myself have a raincheck. On the other hand, I sometimes tell myself that writing or drawing might help me get away from that hole of hell. Sometimes just doing small things, minimal things for your comic, like flowers in the grass, or a bird in the sky, means progress. Is it direct progress? yeah! Is it getting you to draw your comic? yup!

My best tip comic side of things is just what I have said above, do small things. I know what it is like to literally just not want to draw or create at all. Been there more times than not. But when I know my story is waiting for me, I tell myself to start small. For my comic, it is just to sketch a panel. Maybe do lineart for a background. It doesn't have to be much. You don't need to do 50 panels a day. If you want to sketch a butterfly in the background, congrats, you're drawing.

Sorry if this isn't helpful at all, it's just what I personally do. If you ever need someone my PM is open!

[VibrantFox]

after burning myself out trying to work through lows and force productivity i've just accepted a slower pace because honestly low output is better than no output among other mindsets i've slowly started to adopt. working a hectic dayjob (retail) also doesn't really help with time or energy so it's easier to focus on doing what i can than whatever ridiculous standard i may have set for myself plus beating myself up about unmet goals has led to nothing but emotional bouts and sleepless nights which of course just makes things all the worse

ironically i stumbled onto this during one of those late nights spent overthinking and it helped quite a bit
https://twitter.com/NemiruTami/status/1559931193159819264

The Burned out Artist's Guide - Min's Ko-fi Shop

[Lensing]

This is just my experience and not meant as an advice to anyone, depression and health issues in general are
always individual and there are many different ways to treat them.

I have depressions and sleeping problems and it´s hard to say what came first.
I was on medication and that made it worse for me.
The thing that helped me was: getting away from negative people, learning to say no

• some physical things that I didn´t take care of and which are super important:
  -I drink enough water
  -I go on a 30 minutes walk everyday no matter what, sunlight + walking
  -I eat healthy, 5 different kind of vegetables every day, no bread, no carbs, no sugar, no fast food,
  I prepare every meal with fresh ingredients without added sugar, 2 meals a day at a set time

I have set times for everything, I wake up in the morning and have my cleaning the house
time, 5 minutes every room with a timer.
Timers and set times for activities help a lot with getting things done.
I do the same for all creative work, every day rituals, work with a timer

[Lady_T_Musings]

First of all congrats on getting started and getting to this point!!! Making comics alone is definitely not easy and you have to want it bc (specifically if you are making a long-form comic) it will test you. The first chapter of my comic took me about a 2 years to once I got out of the writing/am I good enough yet/world-building phase. If we gonna count that pft almost a decade before I made my comic then, but like hey, I'm doing it now and so are you so woop-woop!

I don't have depression; I do know what it's like to not feel like there is enough time to do anything bc work/school/responsibilities/tiredness and start spiraling on why even bother, it's not like I'll finish any time soon, so this is the mindset I like to keep.

Every little bit of work I put into making my comic is a step closer to finishing it than I would have been if I did nothing on it.

I prefer to adhere to a schedule where I set out a block of time that I MUST work on my comic and turn off distractions save for some bg music and I sit down to work for a few hours. If I am having a bad day, don't feel well, or just don't feel like it; I repeat my mindset quote and will myself to do something towards it no matter how insignificant it may seem. An hour of research, gathering and creating references, organizing my codex/notes, editing, writing, touching up, formatting, posting what I'm working on to folks I trust to give me some advice, whatever. Just SOMETHING that will lend itself to my comic so that I feel like I've done something. If my time slot gets interrupted, or if I have to stop early so be it, but I did something. You'd be surprised how much little somethings can add up when you look back.

When time is the issue I just make sure to keep a pen and notepad/sketchook/journal whatever on me at all times so that when I DO have a moment to myself I can jot down some notes, do some thumbnails, or write a task list of things I want to work on next. This helps me avoid times when I know I need to do something, but draw up blank on what to do next.

[AutumnAdmiral]

Having depression and a job and other hobbies is rough, and I lose motivation sometimes because of it, too. Before I started publishing Godchain this year, I spent several months just making pages in advance so I had four months' worth of content before I started posting them. That way if my own anxiety/depression combo got the best of me, I'd still be able to stick to my posting schedule and force myself to post something even if I couldn't bring myself to make any art that day. Funnily enough, having a big backlog makes me motivated to keep it big.

The reason I could make anything at all though is because I love my story. I feel like it's the story I've always wanted to tell, regardless of what's trendy or popular or how long it's going to take me. It's sometimes hard to remember to have faith in your work, but it's important to remember why you started making something in the first place, and that passion hopefully never flickers out in your heart.

When I'm really down, what I do is just simple little write ups or snippets of dialogue or elaborate on aspects of the worldbuilding in my notes. Even if it's not actual pages, it's something that's keeping my mind tied to the setting and the story and being productive in that sense is extremely helpful. Because working on that can sometimes spark the "oh yeah, this is why I was working on this" moment and brings me right back up to 100%.

Good luck with your continued work.

[JFeverFells]

Forgive yourself for not reaching a goal and give yourself time to relax.

Art is something that should relieve depression and stress, not add to it.

But if you need that fire under you, set dedicated time to your art and remove all distractions.

[SoftWonderBun]

My art and the work I put into it is a source of pride for me. So though I may go through bouts of depression I know it is always something I can turn to for my own enjoyment.

Everything takes time regardless of your mental wellbeing. I would feel worse rushing a product and putting out something for the sake of getting it done quickly.

Regardless of the fans you may gather no one is going to care about your work as much as you do so take your time and get it done little by little. Don't let it become a source of stress, especially if you've got other factors already effecting your mental health.

[kitschensyngk]

Sometimes a change of location can help your productivity. Often times when I need fewer distractions, I go to my local library or a coffeehouse with my laptop and get some comic work done. I bring a tablet with me so I can listen to music or start a YouTube video in the background as I work.

[DreamyPastel]

For me it always varies depending on what else is going on in my life. Being on summer now, I am actually finishing pages ahead of time and enjoying it very much. However, I know once school starts I'll be rushing to finish pages due to schoolwork and also potentially getting a part-time job. I update once a week and I've barely missed an update since starting my comic almost 2 years ago now. But it gets rough during the school year as my classes drain everything out of me and getting through a page is a chore.

I do recommend to go at things at your own pace, but maybe an upload schedule could help. It helps me keep track of all my schoolwork that I need to do for the week and then place some time between to work on my comic. A page a week works fine for me as my pages are short, but if you have longer pages consider an update every 2-3 weeks or even a month, anything that doesn't put pressure on you or makes you rush to finish an update. Another thing that helps me as someone who struggles on where to start or sometimes doesn't have motivation to work on the next page is to go back to ideation. I'll write future scripts for the next chapter, maybe redesign a character that hasn't shown up yet, something related to your comic that isn't under time constraint. It may help you stay motivated and you might come up with some new story ideas for your comic in the process. It's a fun thing that gets me excited to get through the next page.

Above all else though, don't feel pressured to have to hold yourself to a high standard to get updates out. Life is tiring and it is understandable to not have the energy to work on your comic. Despite only doing smaller pages every week, it still takes a lot of my energy to even consider working on anything. We all deserve some lenience, especially from ourselves. Work on what you can when you can and never feel that you have to expend yourself for your comic. I wish you the best of luck with your comic and make sure to take care of yourself!

[goatbat]

Omfg yeah I understand completely.

One thing that's helped me is the Pomodoro method- I adjusted it to be 30 minutes of art, 15 minutes of break. To-do lists also help a LOT.

[Shanny8]

Been really dealing with depression on certain levels for the past couple of years; minute enough that it doesn't totally derail me from life period, but effective enough to keep me from consistently making art.

[powerplantanimations]

I don't have depression but I have health problems. I say scheduling helps out.

[system]

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.