Have you ever re-read your comic?

[Tanako]

Just like the title. have you ever tried to read or re-read your comic from the beginning just to make sure it's flowing in the right direction?

Whenever I start to read my comic I get apprehensive, sometimes afraid and this makes me stop midway.
I have always wondered why I do that. why I stop and don't continue.
then I realized that I don't want to see my mistakes. I don't want to run into a scene I could have drawn better or a text bubble I could have structured better or a typo that I forgot to correct. that's what scares me. realizing how better it could have been.

One thing I try to remind my self when I feel bad about it is that, its all a learning/ growing process. as an artist and writer, you grow and get better with time. it's only natural to see growth and things you could have done better because, without that, you aren't progressing.

Art is about progression the more you do it, study it and practice the better you become. with that being said, I do go back to read my work but the much later chapters so I know whats going on and it's easier to continue but when it comes to reading from the beginning. I can't get myself to be consistent.
in case you are curious, check us out Strings and Time (BL)

What about you? have you read yours...?

[RiidDisBuk1]

There's nothing wrong with imperfection. Do what you think is good. If you wish you did it better, that's ok. Learn from that mistake and apply it to future content.

[Tanako]

@RiidDisBuk1 lol, I know this already. the question is about your work, have you re-read your comic? haahaha!

[RiidDisBuk1]

I haven't done a comic xD

[Tanako]

@RiidDisBuk1 ok, what about novels?

[amortelito]

yeah, I am shocked at the fact that I don't remember drawing some scenes. Especially jokes, I shouldn't find them "fresh" because I made them, but I do.
I caught some errors and things I would like to fix, but nothing too bad. It also makes me remember how much work and time I have invested in this, I can't believe we have over 300 pages, the covers, a redrawn introduction it's been only on year and a half.

[beta1042]

I do it frequently. Yeah I have plenty of mistakes, but it's satisfying to see the quality of my work gradually improve, and I still really enjoy all the characters, jokes, and story as a whole. I'm making the comic for me as a comic I'd like to read, so I better not have problems rereading it haha.

[RiidDisBuk1]

Yes. I have in fact deleted my novel and am currently re-working it. I just feel that I rushed it a bit too much the first time I went for it xD

[Tanako]

@amortelito 300? wow I think I have 294 but it took me a year and half lol. you did well.

[Tanako]

@beta1042 nice, good one. I wish I was that confident. I do make comics I'd like to read and thats why I am strict when it comes to genre. i'm very monogamous and tend to stick in my comfort zone but lately I've been getting the need to be adventurous.

[amortelito]

I also rebooted the comic, and threw to the trash about 3 finished chapters that were black and white. I forgot about those certainly, I can see now why I have not time to watch TV

[Tanako]

@amortelito seriously, man that hurts. but I feel you. if it just isn't working you just gotta get rid of it. I have done this before but not a whole chapter. I would consider that a waist of my time. but I believe that if it isn't working just get Rid of it bk if you keep it, you will regret it. unfortunately.

[joannekwan]

When I care enough about them to prep for print or a definitive pdf, absolutely! I'll reread it as many times as it takes to catch those pesky typos and fix easily fixable art.

For my novel, even in the midst of writing it, I will jump all around between the beginning, middle, and end, reread scenes multiple times, and do line edits.

[JeanGuillet]

I try not to, but it SUCKS ME IN. I got sucked in just this week because darned Webtoons doesn't notify you of comments and I wanted to go and respond to stuff so you have to click through everything and dangit if I didn't end up re-reading it for hours. I've got a very iterative editing process so perhaps I can use my list of subsequent fix-its to good purpose.

[sadghost]

For the last two weeks I've been repainting old episodes to fit my current style (old one sucked). So that forced me to go back and check how the story begins.

[nostalgicroxas]

I re-read my novels, particularly NTN a lot, because I enjoy it. I re-read some of my other stuff, but I end up cringing when I see the odd and crazy directions it takes. It amuses me, but not in the same way it'd amuse "regular readers". I think I also re-read NTN more than my other stories before because I think I just wrote it better than my other stuff. From the beginning I've made a point to tell a clear story.

[Tanako]

do you also try to get someone else to read it as well? maybe to catch things you couldn't spot? because I know when I read something over and over, I tend to start missing things or filling in things. not sure if you understand what I mean.

[Tanako]

Thats good. I started a novel once. after like 10,000 words I realized I had to read it and make edits and in the midst of making edits I started to find better ways to rephrase lines and sentences I have previously written and that alone was nerve wrecking and discouraging so I dumped the novel

[rajillustration]

Oh yeah I do this sometimes since my comic is about 90 pages now and it's the same reaction as when I flip the canvas when I draw a face. I can see all these things that I wasn't thinking about a year ago. When I'm in the middle of creating I just...get so into the zone that I'll just become eyeblind to obvious things like tangents and accidentally reversing the flow of reading. Stuff like that.

I also have characters who are asymmetrical and something that's the worst is realizing when I drew it on the wrong side. Like I have a cat with one ear who's ear flips? It's so bad. I also switch which hand has rings and even which finger is wearing the ring. I don't think any of my readers catch stuff like that but when I do it I get a little panic because these things are plot important.

[Rhonder]

Oh yeah, for sure! I've only been working on my comic about a year now, and I think I've already gone back and re-read the whole thing like 3 or 4 times xD Not counting referencing old pages for various reasons, which happens a lot. I like the re-reading process because it allows me to reflect on my older artwork and how far it's come, relive the story moments I like a lot, and especially re-reading through my comments sections is borderline the best part xD I love all the comments I get on my pages and a lot of them are downright hilarious, or super insightful, even about things I haven't actually thought about haha. If I ever ran out of content I swear I could spawn a half dozen AUs just off of scenarios people have speculated on