How often do you lose confidence in your story? (+poll!)

[amortelito]

From once a week to every two hours. My comic is good enough for me, I love it so much as it is. But I don't think others will love it as much as I do, so that's where the insecurities start.

Also, I am very sad at the fact that the longer the comic is, less readers will be willing to catch up. So, the best parts are likely to be enjoyed by one or two hardcore fans. The viewership is already dropping.

[doomerC]

I don't really have a concrete story in mind; rather, i build up the characters, the events that they take part in and that influence them, and i just let it organically evolve. I'll write down some good ideas to save for later, or sometimes take them out of my current script for future use; once i have a good core for a chapter i let it wind like a snowball downhill, then once i have a good volume i'll cross-reference it with everything else i had in mind and edit it to better match the bigger picture.

For those reasons my workflow pretty much consists of putting my story under the lens and scrutinizing it at every opportunity i have.

At the end of the day though, i put much more emphasis on having each individual scene punctuated. If the reader can land on any single spot in your comic and immediately find something interesting or exciting, then the overall experience will be memorable no matter what.

[rmdooley]

I am convinced being an artist is being in the state of chronic existential crisis

[Azifri]

I voted once a month, but it can be more than once a day sometimes. I mean, the story is written from start to finish, but I know the comic isn't structured in a traditional way, so very likely people are going to find it weird. I do like the story and I have no doubts about it, but sometimes I feel bad sharing it and thinking that people will feel disappointed about it because of slow progression (it's focused primarily on the characters), plotline jumps, lack of a main conflict (for now), etc. I also know it's a long story and it would benefit from longer updates, but unfortunately, it's not possible at the moment.

[indagold]

My comics gonna end in a few days... not sure if at this point there's any confidence to have been lost... I need a regret meter instead.

[Maps]

My story was pretty set in stone, but as things have changed I tend to question parts of my original plot line: What message it’s sending, if it makes my characters look awful, will I be crucified? I’m probably at the biggest turning point in my story so I’ve been MIA and trying to figure out if I should remain true to my original idea or switch things up.

[Iris-Grimoire]

Impostor syndrome hits me like two, three times a month, less if I'm full of good vibes because of IRL stuff. I LOVE critique, I LOVE getting my stuff corrected or finding a problem to fix on my own, but in the back of my mind it always crawls an ugly side telling me they're going easy on me and the low numbers and few subs show that Splitting Image must be really bad and niche. Is it right? Probably not. Is it entirely wrong? Probably not either. But as many a theraphy session had to put into my head, it doesn't matter while I still have fun and time to do it. And if I do wrong today, I can fix it tomorrow, it's never the last chance.

[sarahmassey998]

I picked once a week as a good average. I've noticed that Tapas readership goes up and down so either you get 30 views a day or none at all. There's also the matter of finding time to write when you're not a full time writer; I feel like I'm winging it half the time. After the brief moment of panic you remind yourself that writing is what you love and gets you through the day. Sometimes if feels like you're not a real artists unless you feel like your work is garbage 50% of the time.

[lwflouisa]

Nanowrimo is the worst season for me for losing confidence.

[Conrad_Os]

every Tuesday, the day after I post when the views drop back to zero

[amortelito]

Ahhh yes!! Characters development is way more interesting to me, but I know that there are far too many comic online that offer a faster "payoff".

I feel like many comics that get popular quickly have a very powerful initial hook. Like a premise that is easy to digest: "She is a writer in love with her neighbor, but he is in reality a vampire Hitman who hates books!".
"She wants to become a successful mangaka but she lost her arms in a accident, what would she do now?"
" He has a curse and turns into a toad and only the kiss of a princess will save him, but he only wants to kiss boys"
You already know what it is about and readers kind of can predict if they will like it based on the premise+genre+art.
But slow burn or world bulging makes so many people are more afraid of inventing their time and hopes on something that might not be what they imagined. If I changed anything I woul like to make the first chapter a bit more engaging.

BTW your comic is great and I will never stop reading.

[Shanny8]

The truth? NEVER.

I've been kind of depressed coz my own art abilities have been under duress for the past year, but I've never doubted my story. In fact, it's been my story that gives me strength to press on- I want to see it to the end; I want to see it play out like I've intended it to and for others to consume my story as I've intended.

[Kiweevil]

I lose confidence in my delivery of the story everyday. I don't have the time to put in the blood, sweat, and tears that I want to put into my story, at least as far as illustration goes. My days are limited, especially being as unhealthy and weak as I am. I should have died already.

I have a lot of confidence in my story itself. It's bizarre but charming, and the setting is very unique. The characters are very thoroughly developed and I've made sure to fill every plothole I can possibly generate. Not to mention, the lore is deep but not too overly complicated, giving secondary stories to every main story so things don't get too stale or mild. There's mystery around every corner.

That being said, putting so much effort into the story itself made me want to put equally as much effort into the illustrations and paneling. But that isn't realistic, because if I did that I would die before my story was complete. And it's not worth it. So I settle. People still think my art is good....they comment on it a lot. But deep down I know that I am better and I feel like I am conning my readers.

[MrTwennysebben]

I think since my audience is so small and because this isn't the comic I originally wanted to do it's freed me up to not be too concerned about my story. The comic I actually want to do and have wanted to do for over a decade is a steampunk comedy with some irreverent Lovecraftian elements thrown in, but when I polled my social media peeps they all wanted my dumb comic about working in a pizzeria. That comic didn't even HAVE a story when I started, which has actually worked out in my favor. It's been a fun exercise: create some characters, establish a setting, get bored with the "let's whine about customers" shtick, and now QUICK! Make them do something else! What kind of stupid crap can you come up with? You were raised on Monty Python and Ren & Stimpy and you love Invader Zim, how can you take this very real premise of "working in food service" and throw it down the deepest, most absurd rabbit hole you can think of?Howzabout let's tease this idea that the giant, malevolent soda machine in the massive, dangerous basement/fallout shelter you put in one of the earlier episodes as a joke has somehow gained sentience, broken free and is now stalking one of the main characters? GREAT! Do it! Who cares? It's dumb and it's fun! What other dumb stuff can you imagine for these hapless kids who live in your head after this killer soft drink dispenser arc resolves? Oh, you better believe I have story arcs in mind now. They're gonna get weirder. It's gonna be fun. Because if each episode isn't even going to break 20 "likes" every week then SOMEONE has to enjoy it so it may as well be me.

[DualDragons]

Whenever i see a thread with "what things do you hate in stories" and someone mentions a element that just so happens to be in my series

[FenneFox]

I'd say for me it usually increases exponentially over time. While usually the general idea of the story is something I don't lose confidence in, after I get around to writing it, I gradually dislike how I wrote it more and more frequently.

[thomassayle]

Every damn time I start working on it, It feels like its not worth the time and effort for a stupid joke or whatever. Which causes me to have large breaks in between.

[lwflouisa]

I lose confidence less from lack of ability, and more apparently inability to communicate my intentions. This has stonewalled my projects for years, because I was never sure if I was going to draw my stuff myself, or wait for someone to offer.

Specifically, I've had to write Deviantart off, because it seemed like one one hand: I keep deciding I'm going to resolve to pursue a project, sense I had no offers. Then all of a sudden I get an offer, and then they flake out.

I'd rather me left alone to learn the craft myself. What I mean is the emotional see sawing that happens in such arrangements, that feels increasingly unnecessary.

[KidJake]

To be honest, I never do. I know the base story is enjoyable and captivating; back when it was just a campaign journal I had numerous fans, constant feedback and even fan art of the characters. Every now and then I STILL see the story and characters referenced.

So I know that the story itself is fine.

I do however frequently feel like I'm mismanaging it. Like I'm failing to advertise the right way, like I'm not pitching it to the right audience, not personally engaging with my readers enough or that I just waited too long to make the conversion and that I might not ever get my momentum back.

[jcmraz]

When I stop to think about it. Happens maybe once or twice a month. Maybe a little less than that. I generally work myself methodically so I'm only thinking about the thing that's in front of me. So I can trick myself into having confidence in what I'm doing most of the time