How often do you think of giving up?

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.

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.

@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.

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.

Every day I feel like giving up. Since 2015, its been this way.

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.

Eh... too often. Although it's an on & off cycle. Some weeks I have bouts of positive motivation, other weeks I feel like below. It doesn't help that I get burnt out and over stimulated easily.
I started my current comic around 2013, finalized the everything in 2015, and published it online in 2019. That's a long time to be working on one project. Also I was still in school and trying to rebrand my online art "career". I wasn't expecting to get good numbers right away, but it's disheartening that my comic's on it's 3rd year, still hasn't broken 100, and less than 10 of my total audience is paying attention. Same with Instagram and Twitter. It feels like the world is telling me "No one likes your ugly drawings and dumb stories. Go away."

What also sucks is that there's no one to tell me where I went wrong. Is my art/design that bad? Are the characters bland? Are the flashbacks annoying? Should I've introduced the love interest sooner? Played up the romance in the promo art? Is the villains' plan dumb? Were chapter 4 and 5 necessary? Is the story is too convoluted, too slow/fast, doesn't work? Are there problematic elements that I'm blind to? Is the title itself a turn off? Misleading? Why do people respond to my ads by unfollowing me? I feel like I'll never know the answers to any of these.

I've wondered if...

• I should redo my comic from scratch; rewriting the entire plot and redesigning the characters. If I do that, whatever following I do have will lose faith in me and I may end up hating it again.
• I should drop it and work on my other ideas, but it'll also lead to people losing faith in me.
• Just draw for myself and quit sharing art online? It's hard nowadays to indulge in a hobby guilt free due to ingrained hustle culture. We're all poor, so if what you're doing doesn't make money or lead you to making money, it's a waste of time. "Oh, you play video games? You can make a ton of money streaming!" "Oh, you make quilts? You gotta open a shop and sell 'em!"
• I should quit art all together. That'd be saying "Yes. Everything I've done was a waste of time. Time that I can't get back. Time that I could've spent doing something that would've made me successful like my peers." And I don't know if I have the stomach to admit that.

I don't have any other plans for myself, so I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing. I like drawing, I really do. But liking to draw and wanting to make a following off my art are 2 mindsets I have and they mix just as well as sodium and water.

Not enough.

With my health I absolutely should not be working on a comic.

Only in those fleeting glimpses of moments where I wonder, gosh, maybe I should spend a year studying popular/classic media to increase my skills and understanding of storytelling. Then thirty seconds later I realize that that year would most likely be spent just playing video games and working a job I don't enjoy that much, so actually no way would I ever give up.

Big up to everyone o9

I usually feel like giving up after aroung 60 panels of a comic (so around 15 pages by my standards) I'm slowly getting more tenacious with time (Mire aux Oisels passed the 20 pages bar and Vesna the 150 panels bar before I felt useless) but really I struggle everytime I have to go past the inciding incident I care about because I see my flaws as a writer.
I love drawing my story but I'm not good at organizing my story. And I'm never really doing anything when I have a scenarist. Struggles !

I keep working to try and finish tho xD I want to finish something so I can print or rewrite from the begining with what I learned. Also sometimes I'm wondering if I shouldn't just quit drawing to go sewing but it's really my biggest comfort zone to draw after a day of work. Sewing is hard, mates !

Whenever I give up or take a hiatus, I kind of feel like I'm disappointing my readers, but at the same time, who is there to disappoint? My comic occasionally gains a few subs here and there and then it plateaus for a while, and looking at all the comics that have skyrocketed makes me lose hope. Sometimes it's hard to work because I feel like no one will care about it, but this comic is my passion, and has helped get me through the pandemic and keep me sane.

But honestly, @ButterflyEmpress summed it up perfectly. My "fanbase" is currently made up of 44-ish people but only like 3 different people ever comment, and no one really tells me how I can improve (well except TamakiLeon who's the only one who gave me constructive criticism on my story, props to you ) .

But, if you're feeling down and want to quit, remember that you've made something that no one else came up with before, and you deserve more for that.
To quote a youtube post I read the other day cause I can't come up with anything better, "You have so much more potential than anyone says you do. Prove them wrong, because when they come crawling back to you, it's an amazing feeling."

I gave up on making comics when I was a teenager and put my focus on making music and living and I picked it up
again around 6 years ago. I never think about giving up, it´s just a natural process, you spend less time doing this
and spend more time doing that. But I never have thoughts like "this is too hard and I will never be good and give up"

I don't think about giving up. I do think about whether this is worth the effort. I think about whether maybe I should step back and not stop doing it but stop doing it with the intent of building an audience or trying and failing to get people over to my patreon. I think about whether or not I would be better off spending the time I put into this relaxing or doing other things. Even in those circumstances I wouldn't quit. I just wouldn't be trying to make this as active a goal in my life. I wouldn't be concerned about finishing the comic or hitting my own deadlines. I'd just post when I post and so be it. I still enjoy doing this but is the return worth the hustle? Probably not tbh. But I'm still going to hustle.

Not having the best day today, so I am considering it. But I don't want to completely give up so I won't.