Do you fear success?

[SagaHolmgaard]

Hmmm so let's define "success"

If I could achieve financial stability doing what I'm both good at and enjoy doing, that's a HUGE success, right? (especially in these times when getting any type or work has been kinda hopeless) I don't necessarily need internet fame for that, even though it seems like that what most people in this thread is worried about. You'd be surprised at the amount of successful artists with like. 100 followers on instagram because they aren't really content creators. They either have their client base come from their "real life" network, or they are simply hired by a company and have a salary.

... That said, I'm more of a content creator at the moment

but then theres the rational part that doenst because Ill never get that successfull i think so Im not dreading it so much

^ I guess this pretty much sums it up! I can't really fathom being HUGE, ever. that WOULD be stressful, though. Getting more messages than you have time for, people complaining about the content you create, receiving unwanted attention or backlashat any time.... Yeah, no thanks

But hopefully one day I could have a decent sized, happy and engaging community! And that's enough success!

[rumpenstiltzkin]

Hmmm so let's define "success"

Ah yes I forgot to add this too, it varies so much how we each define success too !
What I was talking about was more thinking of success as in those artits on twitter/insta with hundredsthousands of followers, that have a very active bunch of likes and follows etc and I guess with that amount of following there is a certain amount of success too, more commissions, patreons, youtube etc.

But as Saga mentiones, financial stability and a decent group of a happy and engaging community, Id think I would call that quite the success as well

[Snickerdoodles]

I am not afraid of success. Success is afraid of me.

[DogshitJay]

This is an interesting question that sort of captures some of what I've been feeling recently. Since July I kinda blew up subscriber wise, like 5x growth, and suddenly I have a lot more inflammatory/uncomfortable comments to watch along with my regular thoughtful lovely commenters.

When there are suddenly thousands of people looking at your work it gets a little scary, even if you made it to get consumed. I feel like everyone's suddenly in my apartment and I haven't vacuumed and there are too many dishes in the sink.

There's also the pressure we put on ourselves to always be growing. Every time I hit a milestone, I'm like: well that's it, I've peaked, it's all gonna be downhill from here

I've always been an ultra-private person online, so it's...an experience, and I can absolutely understand creatives fearing success. Especially since so many of us are introverted!

Lastly, the thinly veiled envy and competitiveness that suddenly comes out from some of your peers, or strangers that suddenly feel entitled to your time and help but don't even say hello first....

All that said, I'm not complaining at all! I'm SO SO lucky to have experienced all this, and I'm trying to roll with the changes! I'm just a very high-strung person I thought I'd share so that anyone else who's experiencing the same thing or going to experience it in future might know what to expect mentally!

(disclaimer, I'm not enormous or anything, but I'm succeeding by my own standards!)

[gmaximin]

I might fear causes of success, and what that says about the world.
I’ve been professionally successful in the past, and it really saddens me as to what the world valued in my work (not comics related). I sometimes use my comics as a way to apologize, or vent a bit. Not impostor syndrome, it’s more like being good at something you know is morally wrong, and success becomes a proof that 1. you’re not working for the right team, and 2. the world is expecting that.

A bit like making a story written ironically, yet becoming successful with an audience taking it at face value... a scary and failed success...

[Dizwikz]

Don't have to be afraid of something that won't happen lmao.

[youu2sef]

Do you mean success or fame, because fame which can be something scary for some .

And yet, I think that I got ur point, because when something that ur doing, is getting successful day by day, ur mind creates some scenarios that don't suit your personality.

But, We shouldn't be fearing success, if we do so, our powers will be limited and we'll be always living in stress, so just take ur first step and unleash your creativity and show everyone what you've got .

That's what I think

Y2F & Peace 🏼

[ButterflyEmpress]

To me, I think the scariest thing about success is the possibility of losing it. It's like, what if you finally got to where you wanna be, you make one wrong move and you're back where you started with no way of getting your success back. So if you stay where you are now you don't have to go through that

[Iris-Grimoire]

Sucess as in, I got to a nice comfy place and I'm happy with the audience and feedback I get? Sure.
The stereotypical sucess where I'd be a celebrity in that genre, with all the problems and shitty people with parasocial relationships that it involves? No thanks.

[grotesqueice]

I don't fear success, rather it's the doubt if I'm successful or not? Or will I ever be successful...

[DiegoPalacios]

The only thing that would scare me if I were mega-successful would be death threats I suppose.

"And that is why i studied the blade before publishing"

[R.n.P]

Tbh honest a little bit but me and my writer have decided not to care about it and just do it for ourselves since our main fear is letting fan opinion influence how our story goes

[foxnflames]

Before I started posting, I was more afraid of success than "failing". If I didn't get the subs and likes I envisioned, I could always keep at it and they'll come in time and use that time to improve. Then I thought what if it blows up then there's this added pressure to stay at this certain level that I've set for myself.

Cut to my phone blowing up with notifications all weekend and I'm trying not to freak out and continually deliver what I've been doing, along with the great feedback I get from yall.

[MrOwl]

Cut to my phone blowing up with notifications all weekend and I'm trying not to freak out and continually deliver what I've been doing

That's 10x worse if you have depression and/or anxiety, a few "original/featured" webtoon creators just gave up on their webtoons because of that pressure to keep delivering quality.

[foxnflames]

Anxiety is my middle name. I'm glad people are finding my story and liking it, but the pressure!

[RyzaCobalion]

I guess the only thing that does scare me about success is the overwhelming amount of people that like it. Like don't drawing in your audience is always good but it's also insane to so many people like your work. Like I never imagined my series getting far at all but now it has 75 subscribers. That still blows my mind away.

[elisabeth_ist]

A bit, maybe. I think what I fear is people making assumptions about me. If I become successful (in any area of life) then it's inevitable that people will assume this and that about me based on what they see. In writing, that's a little scary, because sometimes we write what we know... and sometimes we don't... but I don't write to be known, I write because I love to do it. I'd be nervous that people (most particularly people I know IRL) would look at my writing and take too much from it.

That's the only thing that's always made me a bit wary of success -- but I also wouldn't say no to it if it happened. Creators always want people to love what we've made, and most things are worth that.

[Shanny8]

I dont really fear success...what I do fear is losing the peace and serenity that I had before becoming successful; I'm not a very public person- I like my peace and quiet for the most part.

I've told myself if I ever become like overwhelmingly successful to the point where people start to notice me, I'm going to move into seclusion and become a hermit. I dont mind being a successful comic artist and having successful books, but I dont care for the rest of it.

[Ardelvion]

I don't fear success. I just don't like the pressure that comes with it. Like if people expect me to keep up with certain standards and I couldn't keep up with those because my health would be at risk, then they're not really supportive of me.

[rajillustration]

Success doesn't bother me, it's the idea that people will assume I owe them my entire life story or something. There's a lot about me I keep really private, and there's a lot of things about me I know people would not entirely like, because there is not a soul on this earth that is universally likeable, youknow? It's weird that there's such pressure on artists to become influencers--because I'm here to do work and do art. I don't want to be an influencer at all. It's not like I'll ever make the same amount of money as an influencer so I just plain don't want their problems.

THAT and if people don't know anything about me personally, they won't use that knowledge to judge my work. If I never really tell them much about my background, my family, my religion, my education, etc etc, then they won't say "Oh that person is a XYZ, so this is an XYZ book that only XYZ people could possibly like." I get judged enough every freakin day of my life--much like everyone else. I don't want to be boxed into a narrow stereotype like anyone who gets some sort of online fame.

That and I'll be real, I don't think I'd fit in with the famous artist crew--they're always popping off and I just want to draw. I don't have the energy to have the constant rage that seems to sit with the top tier artists on twitter and the likes.