To me the motivation just comes from the fact that I love my characters too much and I want to tell their stories. Even when there days on which I don't feel motivated to draw anything, I usually feel inspired the next day again. The key is taking a break. Sometimes I play video games, or watch a movie. Even just getting up and doing something else besides drawing can refresh my mind and put me back on track once I feel like drawing again.
I learned to work on stuff without motivation or inspiration as a driving force. Kinda needed to get work done before the deadlines if I wanted to get paid.
Though technically if you take that into account, I guess... money / paying my bills would be my motivation? Not very artsy or deep I know... but meh... the truth.
That also makes me sound like I don't enjoy working on comics, overall I do, just some days comics are the last thing I want to be working on, but I have to do it anyway because I need food.
You guys!
Seriously, the folks here at Tapastic are the ones that keep me going ^ ^ It's really hard for me to work on stuff when I know no one's waiting for it, so knowing you guys want to read the next Uzuki or Time Gate keeps me going :3 And like, the best part is knowing that you guys have no IDEA what's gonna happen next, especially when it comes to Time Gate. Like I have BIG plans for that one, and the fact that you guys love reading it and I love making it, that's all the motivation I need u w u
Frankly, I just try to make my next page better than the last one. That's how I keep going. I'm always in competition with myself.
If I'm not motivated I watch my favorite artists draw on either YouTube or the ones from Tapastic that do streams. Usually it helps me flip the motivation switch. I tend to think "Oh wow, that's really good! I'm gonna do better than that!" (Even though our styles are completely different) And then I find myself working on the comic till 5 in the morning sometimes xD
80% of the time I'm satisfied afterwards, but I'm usually exhausted, extremely hungry and need to rush to the bathroom.
Yeah I kinda go overboard o.o'
This is an advice I've seen on a weight loss/ health site, and while I agreed with it (still do) strongly when I first saw it, I'd never thought of applying it to creative endeavors. Makes sense, though!
Lately, I've been low on motivation, and the closest thing to motivating myself lately is telling myself that if I keep putting it off, the next day the pressure will only get harsher.
I used to work best under pressure, but not anymore....
I love my story and I do want to share it, its just some days I just wanna lay on the couch and watch movies all day XD
i wish I had buffer but it doesnt always work for me. I end u procrastinating mor then ever XD though I will try th thoughtful comment thing. it seems like a fun way to just relax and explore the community
@getsuart Haha, im kind of the same way, however at the moment I dont have much of a following. I remember doing that in high school tho when I would share comics with my friends!
@gateofselidor All that sounds really great and I have to agree. Discipline really just seems to be the answer to my problem. I guess i better just keep trucking through this till my energy is back!
@raziment haha sounds real deep!
@jjfresh that is what ive been doing so far. I guess I'll just have to stick to this method then (untill I somehow get a nicebuffer going anyways XD)
Being a workaholic helps. XD
But to be serious. I find it easier to keep going if I work on the comic chapter by chapter. Finishing the storyboards/sketches for an entire chapter in one go, and then going back and alternating between inking and colouring helps keep me on track. Also, having scenes/chapters/characters I really want to draw in later chapters helps me keep my steam up, because my readers need to read/know all the stuff that comes before that if they're to enjoy it.
Grassblades updates twice a week, but I've gotten to a point where I have a.) a big enough buffer that I don't need to draw this week's update right before I update, and b.) am familiar enough with characters/setting that the drawing is pretty quick and painless at this point, so the actual work doesn't take up my entire week.
It also helps to have sideprojects going on - shorter comics or illustrations I can switch to and work on whenever I feel like it.
So far I've been keeping myself motivated (or at least enough to get an update up on time) by either listening to music (which sometimes makes me procrastinate even more lol) as I draw, or pretty much forcing myself to draw pages if I'm cutting way too close to the deadline date (which I've basically drilled into my head not to miss said deadline or I'm going to end up swallowed up by laziness lol)
...Plus the want to tell my story and show my characters helps too 8U
//though my lack of confidence in my writing abilities hinders my motivation a bit orz
I've almost never finished anything. It's not that I'm lazy (ok, not a lot at least) I either loose interest or find something else that I think is better (often both).
What motivates me to keep going is knowing that if I finsh it it'll be the first time I made a goal that I stuck with. And I don't think I'll be stopping soon (it's been at least five months now) that's pretty cool. 
Publicly announce an update schedule; e.g. every Wednesday. If you fail to meet it, you're a failure in your fans' eyes. It's surprisingly effective, yet stressful.
@thatphilippekid thats what I've been doing it's been helping,
@CalimonGraal haha seems like that's everyone motivation XD and hey keep going, I'm sure your story is great!
@annalandin Drawing all that out seems like a good way to go. I gotta try that next time I have a day to myself! Having a buffer would be amazing, I had to skip last week's update cuz I got hit with a cold
I don't really have an answer but I just wanted to say that this thread is so helpful and I'm glad that I'm not the only one who feels this way I've tried to have a buffer before but I didn't manage to get more pages done before it ran out XD. I'm trying to do clusters of 4-5 pages at a time so that people have a bit to read before the next update, but with uni/work it is hard to update frequently. What keeps me going is the fact that I'm redrawing my comic, and I'm desperate to tell the rest of the story haha!
