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Dec 2018

Doing a job that I don't like scares me more than publish that I made with joy. : >
I know it is not helpful. :smiley: But what rmdooley said was pretty useful: Your first comic will be the worst, so get over it and start to improve! :smiley: So mainly this is what I'm doing now...

I actually have been writing a few one-shots as practice to help build confidence and expand my techniques. :slight_smile:

10 days later

I wouldn't say it's a matter of confidence, but more about having this impulse that arises whenever a story comes your way, and you feel the need to give it a form, whether it is through drawing or writing.

But like someone said, I feel another awareness to the passing of time and that if I don't put it out there, my stories will never see the light of day and they will die with me. This is an idea that has been making me write again.

I... didn't?! :sweat_smile:
I'm still unsure on all this venture not only because of my skill, but also because there will be much worse and amoral things in my story and I'm afraid I will be banned and lose all the audience when they will come. But I'm still sure that not all stories should be necessarily kind and light! Cause... hell, the world itself is far away for being kind, after all! (҂◡_◡) ᕤ
I just wanted to tell this story so badly cause it stuck in my mind, so I just can't do anything about it anyway. :sweat_smile:

Ok so this is not really about confidence. But it helps to bring a friend or (if they are willing) a sibling in. My sis is really kicking my butt and making me work on my comic. I have written it out and am kinda storyboarding now soo yea. An extra push from someone helps a lot.

Thanks. I sometimes send my early work to my friends for feedback, but they are usually super busy and don't respond that much. I should look into seeing if my family or another friend could help motivate me, though. :slight_smile:

Hmm maybe try finding someone on the interwebs?

Maybe, tried that with @ghostieblu a while back, but it kind of fell through. (That, and I've gotten enough confidence/cleared ideas to start work on DRGN propers in a month or two soon. Still wouldn't hurt to have the extra help, though.)

Thats great then! Welp, if you ever need someone to give you feedback on your stuff. Feel free to ask me anytime!

Neat, thanks. Always good to know I have people willing to help me! :slight_smile:
(Also, I was planning a one-shot set in the DRGN universe to both practice vertical comics, and to get a better feel of my world before I start it proper.)

I am not really familiar with the DRGN universe ^^" Could you give me a quick rundown of what it is. I will do my own research after that, so that i can actually help lol

Well, it's a science fantasy I've been working on for a while now. I've just recently decided to start from scratch with the world building due to how big it had gotten, so I 'll probably send you some more info once I have more stuff written and solidified. :slight_smile:

I see o.O Do you have discord? It would make communicating a lot more easier ^^" Fantasy is always fun! I am not creative enough to make my own world soo now i can look forward to yours :smiley:

Kind of, it's a bit finicky for me and I'm still working out the details. So I'll keep in touch (maybe by PMs for the time being.) I'll keep you posted when i have more stuff ready. :slight_smile:

Haha i understand! See ya around then :slight_smile:

I started coming up with ideas for mine about 15 years ago.
I came up with the excuse that my art was never at a high enough level to do anything.
Then, I hit 30. I realized if I never started I'd regret it. So I'm throwing myself into it with my best effort and not worrying about whether anyone even likes it.
I'm happy with it and enjoying working on it, so that's what matters most to me.

Thanks for the encouragement, I started DRGN 7 or so years ago as a video game before moving to webcomic format a few years ago, my perfectionism being the main thing keeping me away. I recently have been trying my best to get over that hurdle and have been thankfully inching ever close to my goals of finally launching DRGN. :slight_smile:

Biggest learning experience: You get better as you go. I can look at my old panels vs my new ones and instantly see a difference.
And I actually leave mistakes in on purpose, mostly because nothing is perfect, and I'm fine with that.
All that to say, just go for it.

Sup Aqua,

I'm glad you asked this for a rather selfish reason: It reminds me that I'm not alone in feeling this way from time to time.

So in regards to your question, here's the TL:DR version of the 4 reasons everyone should be confident in their work:

1. Confidence is fleeting.
2. This is the worst you will ever be.
3. One Finished Mediocre Novel will always be better than 100 great unwritten ones.
4. You don't have a choice.


1. Confidence is fleeting.
Motivation, Inspiration, and Happiness all share a certain similarity as confidence: They're all in an eternal struggle with their negative counterparts. There will be days where you will lounge around in apathy, there will be times when you will feel severely discouraged, not a single person in history can boast a sadness-free life, and even the most confident people have insecurities.

Even if you feel confident enough to post/publish/share your first chapter, I can almost guarantee you that sometime in the future you will look back on it and cringe. That's okay. It means you're improving, and contrary to what society would have you believe, it's perfectly fine to feel negative emotions; that's just part of being human.

However, due to it not being a constant, but a variable in one's life; rather than having confidence be the fuel that drives you to create, make the need to finish be what drives you to begin.

Organize all of your ideas from shortest to longest, and begin completing them one by one like a checklist. Do not touch any other idea until the one you are working on is finished. Eventually, the focus will be shifted permanently, and confidence won't even be a factor in creating and sharing your stories.

2. This is the worst you will ever be.
From the wise words of a not so wise Koala,

"You know what's great about hitting rock bottom? There's only one way left to go, and that's up!" -Buster

The only way you could get worse is if you stopped, and I doubt you are going to stop anytime soon. You should take pleasure in the fact that one day after a hundred stories, you will wake up and find yourself with an extended bibliography — with each instance of your improvement forever logged — along with a group of amazing individuals who fell in love with every entry.

Even if you're nowhere near where you want to be now, you will be. Just don't stop.

3. One Finished Mediocre Novel will always be better than 100 great unwritten ones.
One of my greatest fears is being known as the 'idea guy'. I'm sure you know what I mean. Being what essentially is a wordsmith, it genuinely terrifies me to the core that there is a possibility that people could find what a say empty.

I hope to never tell a friend what I have in store, just to be met with feigned interest. I do not want 10 years to pass, and be the sole expert on 100 different worlds and their rich history and culture. I do not want to be the person who claims to be a writer, but has nothing to show for it.

No matter how terrible it may seem, something is better than nothing.

Steven King is my favorite example; while he has written some iconic novels, he's also produced some stuff that I would probably not recommend to a friend; but his less than stellar titles haven't stopped him from producing over 50 novels.

4. You Don't Have a Choice.

I apologize for the way I have worded this final point, but I truly believe in it. You do not have a choice.
If you never start your project, then no one will ever see it.
If you never start your project, then you have, by default, failed.
If you never start your project, you will forever be left to wonder how different it would all be if you had.