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Mar 2021

Find how I can make it work, long and short term, for the drawings, dialogues, plot points and events, to get people to know me in social media, my blog, etc.

Also give myself some free time, do other stuff I'm not accustomed to but I'd like to do more often (learn something, read books about certain topic/theme, music genres I didn't listen that much, etc)

Just don't overwhelm yourself, little by little.

I've been fortunate to have mostly avoided coming face to face with 'giving up". Most projects that I've started and dropped have mostly been due to falling out of interest with them (usually in the early stages).

The only time I've put my foot down and officially "gave up" on something was my big 10-year long project that never got off the ground. The idea was initially conceived in 2007 and I continued to dedicate most of my creativity towards it until early 2018. It was a mixture of chasing too big of an idea and being too inexperienced to know any better (it was made in middle school lol). The majority of the time was spent in the re-do loop, I have at least 10 iterations of the first chapter, have rewritten the beginning like 2 or 3 times, and spent way more time thinking about characters or scenarios that would happen dozens of chapters in rather than working on getting it started from the beginning.

Finally on the final reboot, that I started at the end of 2017, I decided "enough is enough" and gave up on it. The realization stemmed from the fact that I was churning out pages at about 1 page per week and the first cool fantasy action scene in my fantasy action comic was, like... 70 pages in. I did some quick math and realized that from where I was at page 8, it would take me over a year to get to that point... and I wasn't willing to spend that much time on a series that a middleschooler wrote just to get to the first cool scene. It put into perspective too that the project was probably like a 20 year endeavor or something and was just completely unfeasible to work on and complete.

So I gave up and started writing my first official webcomic, which was a short 70 page one-shot. That there was a cool fantasy action scene in the first 7 pages rather than 70 pages away made me very happy as a creator and it was a much more enjoyable experience for everyone involved xD

it's interesting you say this because I feel the exact way most times and now I'm venturing into Noveling. The down part is that I don't know how good my writing is but i'll give it a try.

I don't think of giving up much. I just give up a lot. I bury myself under my covers and decide not to exist for a little while. Then I crawl out of bed when it's time to deliver the next chapter of my novel, edit it, draw the art, publish, feel proud, try to market, try to be active in the community, run out of energy, give up. Rinse Repeat.
I think it's normal, especially during these awful times, to run out of creative or extrovertive energy. I think it's normal to take breaks but I think it is important to bring yourself back up again. And it's important to talk about these things. You're never alone in this.

Way too often. For so long, I've been inspired by multiple artists and animators on social media thinking, "I want to do that stuff too." Starting in May, it will have been 6 years since I started trying to get a following for my art and animations.

Just about 6 years later, and I barely have gained any traction.

I know it's easy to say "You shouldn't care about numbers! Your value doesn't lie in how many followers you have or how many likes you get!" It's true that you shouldn't let numbers drive you or else you'll lose your passion for your dreams, but when you've been trying so hard, it really starts to bring you down. You put your all into the thing you love, making it just to make it, and when you share it to the world, no one wants it. It makes me question if all the work I do is even worth it, or if what I make is even any good.

Especially now, I am a freshman in an expensive art college, already starting to accumulate a lot of debt which is really scary. My family and friends told me I should follow my dreams, but I have no idea how I'm going to pay it off. That's been a prime factor of me trying to build up my social media presence as of late. I still love doing the thing I love, but I also need to start earning money from it too. But nothing has really done much. My sister keeps telling me, "you need to improve." Which is pretty discouraging since I've been improving or so I thought I have, and I'm pretty happy with how my art style looks. I know I will keep improving, but will it even change anything? Plus, with how a lot of social media algorithms work now, it expects creators to have the time and energy to post consistently, which isn't an option that everyone has. The system itself causes a lot of burn out that I have begun to feel a bit.

I'm a small content creator who has struggled to make their mark anywhere in life really, but what's weird is that I still haven't given up. I've been told that I'm quite a stubborn person, and I'd like to think it's one of my better attributes. Despite feeling like I'm going nowhere, I want to keep trying, after all that's all I can do. If I give up, I'll never know if I could've made it. Of course it's a bit childish (for a lack of a better term) to complain about something like this, but I guess most creators kind of go through that kind of thinking too. And plus, I'm already pretty lucky to have gotten the support I have received thus far. It makes it a bit easier to know that at least some people have your back and know that you're not alone as well. As creators, we all have to stick together and bring each other up :slight_smile:

I’m a quitter and I often think about giving up on the project I’m currently working on. But I try to remind myself that if I enjoy working on it, and if more than zero people are reading it, it’s worth to keep working on it. I’ve found that often when I feel down about my work and think that no one cares about it, I’ll suddenly get a nice comment that gives me energy to keep going.

So I think it’s good to be resilient and not get too sad if a post or update gets kinda ignored. Maybe the next one will do better, or maybe there are readers who enjoy it but you don’t know about it (yet).

With that said, I don’t think it’s bad to give up on a project if you want to try another one. But please don’t give up on creating if you enjoy it!

Btw, when I’m down and feel like giving up, this song2 always gives me motivation to keep going.

Yeah. I feel that way all the time.

Look, I know I'm just supposed to tell you not to quit. But that's bullshit. That's a reassuring platitude. Change can be good, and I think the real question you need to ask is what do you actually want? What would your life be like if you actually quit making comics? What would you do instead? Would it be more personally fulfilling than making comics? Would you miss people reading your stories? Sometimes reminding yourself that you really could stop what you're doing and do absolutely anything else helps remind you why you've shaped your life this way in the first place. I could quit my job making video games and go work at McDonalds right now. Some days that sounds like a relief! But I know I would miss parts of my life that are important to me.
Or do you enjoy making comics and you want your comic to be more successful? If that's the case, quitting resets all your progress to that goal. Formulating a roadmap to that goal seems like a better solution. Maybe buy ad space, talk to publishers, get professional feedback, etc.
Getting discouraged sucks. And it's ok to feel that way. But realistically speaking, quitting isn't going to make you feel less discouraged. Remind yourself why you're doing it, and go after your goals like an angry bee.

That's not dramatic! I think it's perfectly reasonable. Among the most common regrets people have on their deathbed is having never lived in such a way where they got to do more of the things they loved.

And hey, we former teachers have an amazing safety net in the form of our degrees. Casual supply/relief teaching once a week to cover essentials is something we can have so easily, should we need it. I still teach voice in the public school system two days a week, for that reason. If there's any career which makes for a very safe springboard into trying something riskier, it's teaching!

You're doing amazingly, your art is gorgeous, your comic is adorable, and your YouTube channel (I found it the other day while looking for Procreate-specific comic videos) is really helpful. I've heard it can take a few years, realistically, but I'm sure you'll find enough success to pay the bills if you stick at it!

I totally gave up on comics for a bit--I even gave up on art! I had carpel tunnel so bad that I just didn't draw for an entire year while going through the both physical healing and just the overall recovering from the shame of that whole situation. When you're met with very painful and disappointing feelings every time you post art, with really not much to show from it, eventually you will associate your art with those bad feelings, so it's very good to step away sometimes to break that association. I didn't really expect that I'd go right back to doing art once my hands were better, and I didn't expect I'd fall back into comics and writing during the pandemic. But, enough time had passed that I feel better now, I have a healthier relationship with my art, and a more realistic expectation of my projects. Not to mention, I'm just more experienced now and that helps a lot.

But just know there is no shame in walking away. Every other career is fine if you do that, and I wish art would understand this better. Because you'll have a lot of responsibilities in your life, and maybe you can't make a comic right now because you got a really tough job, or your kid needs special care, or hell knows what reason--life is kinda long, so you can step away, and it'll be here when you're ready to come back, if you even decide to.

Oh what a small world! I just realized you're the same person that left me a very thoughtful comment on my YouTube as well! :heart:

You're too kind. :sob: I just checked out blue star rebellion and your comic is beautiful by the way!

@drawnbyyannan

Thank you so much! And I appreciate the advice you left on my YouTube comment as well, it's very helpful.

Haha, when I clicked through to your comic from this thread and recognised that I'd subbed to it the day previous, I really had to do a double take! In the whole vast wilds of the internet, running across the same creator on two different websites within two days is comically unlikely. :rofl:

Sometimes I have thoughts about nuking my entire art related internet presence, but I don't do it and just keep going, because I don't really have much interests or skills that would replace said presence. :sweat_smile:

I love doing art and comics, but not going anywhere far with it is just sad. I'm not good at promoting myself so I keep being in the basement on most social media. I guess it do be like that sometimes.

I don't think I'll ever actually give up, but thoughts about it just sit there.

Every now and again I have my doubts about my skills, but I've taught myself to just keep going and not let it bother me. I've realized that after a day or two of questioning myself, the 'block' clears up and I can get back into it at full throttle.

Then again, this is coming from an individual who hasn't published anything serious ever in his life, so perhaps things will change once I too finally upload my first serious story to Tapas (which will probably be in a month or so).

It all depends on the fun factor for me. If making comics begins to be a pain constantly nagging at the back of my head, then more than likely I will stop, if only temporarily. Right now I'm still going strong though.

I wonder how long I'll last. 'Tis a challenge I shall accept!

My mood sadly influences my writing a lot more than I'd like to admit. Heck, I've only just recently started uploading chapters of a story I started back in August last year that I stopped late September due to a dark mental episode and a loss of motivation. Even right now, I'm barely able to put myself in front of the computer and edit those chapters.

Hey, you're not alone. I think every creative has gone through this at some point. No matter what we make, we're all still united just through the fact that we are creators and as such, love when people enjoy our work. For me, I never gave up because working on my series just simply... makes my brain feel good. When I started work on "Red Shift" years ago, literally no one knew who I was. And I did feel pretty alone. I remember sitting in my university library at night after classes and working my butt off on world building and painting. Before I even completed chapter one, I had 100 (literally) paintings of my main boyo. I had basically zero social media presence and didn't really know many online. (Most of my friends were from uni.) I ended up joining the DCEU sub-reddit and made a lot of lasting friends who still cheer me on today. I have a reader-base now and that makes me insanely happy. I would have continued whether I had readers or not however, since as I said, the simple act of creating makes me feel content. I love working on my stuff. :heartbeat: