How do you deal with doubt?

[Fierce_Chai]

How do you deal with doubt about your work and your series and overcome it? Do you have any mindsets or stategies?

For some reason my comic causing me a lot of anxiety about all the things that could go wrong, if the characters are too bland or keeping the readers interested in the story etc. It paralizes me to the point I cannot move forward anymore.

I would be glad to hear about your experiences and thoughts!

[TimCaloweh]

I can easily figure out what can't work. It's hard for me to find solutions. I use my observation to mold my characters and story into what I know will work, not what i hope will work. I get over my doubts knowing that my stuff will be good, that it's working, and that i'm making progress.

[whiskeyjack]

This is something totally normal and common among creatives, especially ones that involve creating a world and characters, and writing a narrative. I think ultimately the question you have to ask yourself is, is this something that YOU want to see.

[SleepingPoppy]

How do you deal with doubt about your work and your series and overcome it? Do you have any mindsets or stategies?

What you're worrying about is very much centered on the audience. My advice, as someone with anxiety, is to look at your comic from a more self indulgent perspective. You can still think about making a good story and doing your best, but try to keep your focus internal. Make your number one priority how you feel about your comic and whats good for you. And I would say, since you find these thoughts paralyzing, make a significant portion (at least a chapter) before you start uploading the comic. That way you've made a good chunk without having to worry about anyone looking/responding.

Of course, that can be easier said than done. It works for me, but most of the time my art/comic is one of those things that makes me feel good, and I don't get too much anxiety about what others think about it. If they don't like it, they're not going to read it, so it's not a big concern. And if even a few people do read it, that's really cool that they like something I'm making. The more you can let go of needing or worrying about other peoples attention, the better it will feel when you get it.

But I also recognize that anxiety doesn't always listen to reason, and this might not be an approach that works for you, even if it does for me.

Another thing you might try is researching a "growth mindset". It's actually a school thing about encouraging students to focus on things like effort and what not. It's very positive, and very healthy. Might be worth reading and seeing if anything feels applicable/helpful in terms of a mental outlook?

[IdiotWithPencil]

I mostly power through it, I think to myself "what's the worst that could happen? are people not liking it? so what?" I know it's not the best for someone who suffers from anxiety but I just ignore the doubts and remember that I'm trying to have fun and that there are worst things that could happen to me that people not liking my stories.

Make your number one priority how you feel about your comic and what's good for you.

I agree this is your story if you like it that's all you need

[Kat]

Perfection is the enemy of good. Just focus on making something good. Oh, and...

[LT1986]

I deal with doubt by realizing that there is a chance that many people might not like my web comic. With this thought in mind, it makes me keep in mind that I make the web comic to improve my art skills and other skills in life. I'm okay as long as I enjoy what I'm doing.

[punkarsenic]

also, trust your taste. if youre enjoying what youre writing, the audience will too - i remember taika waititi talking abt how he writes as like, when he gets bored with a scene, he moves on. if youre bored, your audience is bored. if youre having fun, so is your audience.

have faith that you are creating and sharing something you love, and there will be people who share your passion

[StrixandLem]

It may be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that an author should 'forget' the audience while engaged in storytelling. Paradoxically, this is how you can offer something new and interesting: if you offer the audience what they already know and love, it becomes impossible to invent something new.
I think you should only think about the story, and once you've created it, offer it to those who want to enjoy it. Hey, guys, that's my story. I hope you like to read it as I liked to create it. Have fun!

[Darkstrong]

I beat my anxiety over my writing with a simple trick. When I start writing I simply turn of my brain, kind of, and just let the story flow, without thinking whether something is good, or bad, or whatever (of course, by the time I actually get to writing I have all the story almost completely thought through and figured out in my head.) After that, when I go back to look through it for revision, I try to simply think of it a someone else's script, that you cannot really change, but just give some pointers and polish. It takes some self-convincing, but it help with feeling that you are doing something wrong

[Rasp]

I narrow down a specific concern and then read over my work looking for that issue. If I find it I try to think of ways I've seen others deal with it. I tend to listen to audio-books on the same days I'm writing. The answers to your problems really are right there most of the time. What did the author do to make their characters more relatable or interesting? the answer likely isn't as hard as you're making it. Like I've been reading the "Expeditionary Force" series and sometimes the lead character will go off on a tangent about something personal to him. An old or funny anecdote from his past. Remember as a writer you're often best served writing what you know even if it feels awkward or a bit embarrassing. Use your past, adapt other stories you hear. For instance I saw a stupid clip of someone tripping over themselves trying to do gymnastics the other day. It provoked a thought in me and later on when I was writing it occurred to me I could use that if I changed it a bit.

[SeraphicMayin]

I find that doubt never really goes away, even as you get better and even as you find success. So instead I embrace it and act anyway.

A lot of my doubt is centered on the Imposter syndrome, that overwhelming feeling that I'm getting away with something and at any moment I'll be found out ahah.

But you see, creating stories and sharing them requires a lot of courage. But courage I believe only manifests after you've felt doubt. Because courage is the ability to act even when one is fearful and doubt is a form of fear.

I cannot say I have a specific strategy. Typically I just solve my issues with one answer: Action.

There is power in taking action.

Feel like you don't understand how to make a plot? Google the best resources for how to write compelling plot and study. That's taking action.

We never ever know what the future holds. I recently read an old journal entry of mine that stated: Its been two months. I'm now fairly certain I wasn't chosen for the Tapas Incubator. So I'm just going to focus completely on working on my next comic project.

This was a week before I got the email that I had, actually, been chosen.

Sometimes things go wrong and they will go wrong, but you can always act in response to it. There is always a choice to be made.

Now you cannot control the readers, except one. You are your first reader. You are your audience too! Do you enjoy the story? Do you read it and like it as a reader?

Allowing the audience to determine your emotional state can be paralyzing. But in reality, what they do and how they think or feel is not in our control. How we choose to react is always in our control.

As a creator I strive to bond with the audience over some aspect of humanity through storytelling. It's a high risk - high reward endeavor for sure xD.

Right this moment I'm still gripped with the idea that maybe Tapas made a mistake. Maybe Swaha won't get a huge reaction and sway people's hearts through the drama of its story. Maybe it wont. Maybe it will. But I cannot control that.

So I act on what I can control. The next scene, the next panel. There's still work to be done and story to be told. And I enjoy my work a lot xD. So if no one else does, well at least I still have the work.

Doubt and courage can live side by side. Doubt can be useful so I'd never want it to go away or eliminate it. Absolute certainty is kinda dangerous. It does not leave room for the natural 'it could or it couldn't happen' that always exists cause the future is wholly unknown.

[LCT_m_a_d]

Doubt has been a sign of progress for me, from career decisions, to lifestyle, to social anxieties. The moment you doubt yourself is the moment you start to realize what you are really capable of overcoming with a little bit of hope and creativity. That's when you become most resourceful and adaptive. The best way to deal with doubt is to really experience it and use it as a clue.

[TJSchongar]

What you're worrying about is very much centered on the audience. My advice, as someone with anxiety, is to look at your comic from a more self indulgent perspective.

That is the EXACT strategy I use :). I have been in a place in my life where I wouldn't share my writing, wouldn't push to publish it in any format, because I was scared it wouldn't be received well or at all. When you do that, the anxiety gets WORSE. You never confront it, you never question it, you just take it for granted that your anxiety is correct and people will probably either not care or hate it. That anxiety just sticks with you, and you walk around feeling constant doubt. That's not a way to live.

Since I've been posting daily on Tapas, I have experienced anxiety and doubt every. Single. Day. Just like I have for years. The difference now from those past years is that the anxiety is much less, much more mellow, and easier to think through. The doubt is a sad annoyance rather than a huge reality. When I challenge it every day and create anyway - even if my views are DOWN and I don't get a single subscriber - if I post, I feel calmer.

I attribute that to indulging in a story I love, characters I'm interested in, and the excitement of approaching the next big scene that I've been thinking about forever. Might there be issues with my pacing, consistency, narration, or a million other things? Probably. Everyone has a degree of problems in their work. But I have just enough confidence to say that I care about my craft to do it to the best of my ability, and the care that I put in will make creating it more fun. I know my strengths - I indulge them. I know my weaknesses - I face them and try to make it a fun challenge to overcome them.

That doesn't make the anxiety or doubt never come back, at least for me, but when you find the joy in what you're doing for yourself, you can find relief from it and feel much calmer.

[MReddragon]

I am personally plagued with self doubt on the daily. My art is mediocre, i am not a good story teller, i should give up. That kind of stuff. But what makes me go is that i do this for myself. This is the way i prove to the world I exist. If others like it, it's icing on the cake. My story will evolve with me, my art may get better but i have a need to create it.

[Shelby_A]

I've just started setting in a path to being a "real" writer as a job; if it's any comfort, even if you don't have a history with anxiety, it seems to find you anyway. Everything seems small when we put it on paper. And when your starting out in a big sea like Tapas, you could be sitting with a lot of radio silence to start. It's rough.

If you can, try to remember how painfully easy it is to be a critic. There are good critics out there, but there's a significant chunk that are just learning to type "you suck" and are testing their boundries. But it's hard to put your heart into something and submit it to the world and accept judgement. You are doing a brave thing by choosing to be a creator, and even when people deny it, you deserve respect for an honest effort.

If you treat your characters and your audience like people you'd call a friend, your work is needed. Don't give up.

[punkarsenic]

When I start writing I simply turn of my brain, kind of, and just let the story flow, without thinking whether something is good, or bad, or whatever

this is why lots of ppl say they draw the best stuff at 3am - when youre tired, the judgemental part of your brain turns off and you just do whatever. a lot of what holds people back is being too self conscious - its an important exercise to separate your writing brain from your editing brain.

every time you sit down and write, say: 'the first draft will be awful. im going to enjoy making it'

you can redraft as many times as you want (though practice limiting yourself to 3-4 edits, to stave off perfectionism), but you cant edit jack shit until youve made it

[Raven_C]

When i feel self doubt, I just simply shake it off and tell myself it’s better to try. It’s not always easy but someone out there is always going to like my work anyway. If I don’t go into that ring and let my work be known then I’m always going to be on the sidelines. Even if it’s shitty now, I’m always improving.

Years ago, never in my life as a young teen did I think I was ever going to be good enough to participate in art conventions as an artist. I never thought I was going to make comics, nor did I think I had the chops to take commissions. Now I’ve done all those, it was a long time coming, but I’m glad I did it even if I continually thought to myself, “This is terrible, I’m terrible, why am I even here.” I just put on a thick skin and try to be confident, which in turn makes people confident about my work.

[Penni]

I probably don't have the best answer to this but it usually works for me. I basically remind my self that being uncomfortable isn't a bad thing and if this is what I really want to do then it will be worth it.

Then I tell myself my mamma didn't raise a bitch, pick myself up and keep going.

Don't take that last part as the core of the message I understand that likely isn't the advice that is generally effective for people but it seems to help me out.

[Roseblackwell]

Oof so relatable. I think all creators go through this to some extant, some more than others though. There's of course no single way to get past it, but I think finding a community of support and encouragement goes a long way!