Does getting feedback cripple your motivation to continue the story?

[Moe]

I've been working on a script for a one shot for a couple months now, and whenever I get feedback on it, it's usually negative. I decided to start the comic anyway, but recently I asked someone else to give me feedback and after they told me the script was generic and cliche, it's making me lose my motivation to continue. It's like why bother continuing it if it's gonna be bad anyway? The only reason I can think of is that it will be good drawing practice... Thoughts?

[FlutterbyBubbles]

If you enjoy making the comic- then keep at it! And if you don't enjoy making it- stop making it, I really think it's that simple- it's your comic- do what YOU want.

[Ironscarf]

It's more than just good drawing practise, it's an opportunity to learn and improve your craft: success! The only way to fail is to not continue. It's a long, long road so upwards and onwards!

[Tycade]

never EVER let someone's criticism hurt your motivation to create. It is YOUR comic, not theirs, but just because it's negative feedback does not mean it is always bad feedback. Trust me, looking at my webcomic and where it began, and where it is at now, I wish I'd have gotten more feedback in general. You should post a link to your comic, I would love to read it and tell ya' what might help

[BradNu]

Don't let criticism hurt you, it's meant to help you, take the criticism and use it to form your story in a better way, don't let it take away from you, let it give to you.

[indagold]

I openly seek criticism and I was very reluctant to upload my comics if there was no critque on them. So far still upset I can't get feedback from anyone because everyone close to me is busy or if it was shown to strangers it would spoil plot more. You're lucky you even get feedback since many artists don't even get that when starting out. You're basically throwing a gift out the door at this point. Take your criticism veggies and eat it lol

[Shanny8]

I welcome feedback, but in most cases it doesnt impact what I do with my comic. If it's positive feedback that may add another facet/dimension to my character(s)/story then I might take it into consideration...but if it's negative feedback that adds no value, I pay no heed to it and keep it moving.

[shazzbaa]

I asked someone else to give me feedback and after they told me the script was generic and cliche, it's making me lose my motivation to continue. It's like why bother continuing it if it's gonna be bad anyway?

I think the kind of feedback, and the intentions when asking for feedback, are important here.

You asked for feedback, received negative feedback, and instead of thinking "okay, what can I change to make that not true?" you seem to feel more like, "well, that sucks, why am I even bothering to make this?" If you ask for feedback, you have to be prepared to learn that something needs to change! If you're not interested in changing anything, then I honestly wouldn't ask for feedback. Why waste someone's time asking them their thoughts if you're not going to take their critiques into consideration? Just make the thing you want to make.

And that's okay to do -- it's okay to not seek out feedback because you've already made up your mind. Critique is extremely valuable, but not everyone's looking for it all the time, and that's okay.

On the other hand, it sounds like maybe this particular feedback is something you don't know what to do with. A lot of times reader feedback is like this -- readers and friends aren't creators oftentimes, and so the feedback they give might tell you when something's wrong, but not precisely what it is or how to fix it, and "generic and cliche" feels like that sort of advice. A story can be cliche and still well-told and interesting, so that's not the real problem -- what is? Are the characters not strong enough? Do the events and conflicts feel arbitrary rather than natural? Does the story contain no interesting revelations about character or consequence, and thus feel like the conclusion can be seen a mile off? Or is this story just not this reader's preferred genre? Those things are harder to pinpoint, but that's the actual issue, the thing that you can do something about.

So, don't ask for feedback if you're not actually looking for feedback. But if you do ask, and receive negative feedback, that doesn't mean "my thing sucks apparently I guess." Those are things you can try to figure out, and improve, and make your story better!! And if you ever get feedback that you're not sure what to do with ("they said my story is generic, but I like my idea, how do I make it less generic?") then there are a ton of experienced storytellers on here who would be happy to help you troubleshoot more specifically. ;u;

[UzukiCheverie]

Not really. I'm capable of identifying problems in my own work though, so 9 times out of 10, any criticisms I get are things I'm already perfectly aware of and want to work on (like the fact that I suck at drawing hands, or I rarely draw backgrounds, or my perspective is sometimes a little off, whatever it is... it helps because they either offer a way to help figure out how to improve, or they just confirm for me that it is indeed an issue and I'm not being nitpicky). Being able to identify and acknowledge your own skill level and what needs improving is just as important as improving itself, because it means you're able to figure out what needs fixing, so those things get fixed faster. It also means that you don't get stuck doing the same thing over and over again, never improving because you don't recognize what's actually wrong with your work.

But yeah, also what the user above said - if you can't take feedback, it's perfectly okay to not ask for it. I wouldn't recommend it per se, because as I said above, if you can't learn to recognize flaws with your own work, how do you expect to get better? Improving is a constant thing as an artist - you'll never, ever be perfect at your craft, and that's half the struggle (but also half the fun). Especially because it's impossible to avoid feedback - users will sometimes leave feedback whether or not you ask for it, and it's usually because they're just trying to help you (if they're not intentionally being malicious).

I think it's just learning how to not take it personally. Separate your work from your personality and your ambitions. It makes things a hell of a lot easier.

[gpyrus]

I would advise against showing early work in general(most work that you aren't sure is any good), because confirmation of your fears intended as receipt of fair and honest criticism is still misguided and counterproductive intent. It will certainly hinder motivation that is essential in order to seek and dare to undertake the next potential big work. That early criticism would necessarily point to the obvious anyway; you're not yet in your comfort zone, but so what? Jump to the next thing and in a few weeks/months you will adore your progress(learning curve is a steep one for quite a while for most) and will most likely look at your early work as bold/crude maybe, but less in the vein of a misfire.

[Luminosophy]

Part of doing any sort of hobby or just applying yourself to any skill is understanding that no matter what, you are just going to suck at first. I made two different starts to the same comic going back and forth with an editor who generously offered free advice before finally having enough visual coherency to stick to the third version. Criticism, regardless of the person's intent, will not stop someone who just genuinely wants to do whatever it is they love. I actively go out of my way to seek criticism and no matter what you'll get people who give either outright stupid "advice" where they fail to grasp the purpose of your work and flat out don't know what they're talking about, and you get people who are just out there to troll and shit stir. I showed old pages of one of my comics on a crit sub on reddit and one guy accused me of tracing the backgrounds, and even after posting videos that show the process where I draw things from a blank canvas I was still getting downvoted to hell.

It's part and par of life, you choose the comments that help you and the ones that don't. You have to decide why you're in comics. Do you want to make it your profession and reach the top of the skill ladder? Then devoid yourself of any sense of perfection and encourage your audience to question the logic of your plot and the anatomy and compositions of your artworks. Do you want to do it just for fun and couldn't care less about a career? Then don't ask for feedback (seriously don't, you're wasting people's time they give generously to help you for you to just throw it back in their face) and ignore all comments about it.

[NeonKnight]

I guess its ok to have feedback if you ask for it, but the unwanted feedback is just to be ignored.