How often do you think of giving up?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Well, I think a lot has already been said, but I'm going to add on to what everyone else has already said anyway - yes, of course I feel like giving up. Like, at least once a week. Sometimes more. And sure, sometimes less.

To add with my own personal experiences --

I will be 30 years old in just a few short months, so that's got me really thinking about life a lot more lately, especially with my writing.

Sure, I can sit here and tell you I've been writing stories since I picked up a pencil. But taking my writing seriously as a career really came around in high school. And I went to college for writing. Twice. Got my Master's. A lot of money in debt and no end in sight.

I wrote my first serious novel when I was around... 18? Plus or minus a couple years. It started as a screenplay, which in a few years, I turned into a short story, then a novella, which I then had published through an indie publisher. Which would have been exciting - woo, accomplishing my dreams! - but the only people who bought it were my parents. A few months later, the publisher broke off their contract with Amazon or something and the book was removed.

I took the opportunity to rewrite it, turning it into a novel at almost 100k words. I wrote a sequel. A prequel. A spin off series taking place in the future. And two other books that would make it a full series. I approached publishing companies, then agents, and got rejection after rejection after rejection. I started to post it anywhere I could, trying all the different platforms. Fictionate, Fictionpress, WattPad, and yup, now, for some unholy reason, I decided to try here on Tapas, too. I even started to reach out to book stores in my area for exposure.

I made business cards, promo materials, and I found a local group that promotes indie authors. They hosted events all over, so I purchased tables, attend events, walked around and talked to other authors (as an introvert, this was huge for me!! Wouldn't have been able to do it without my family and my husband at my side). I attended readings, expos, even presentations by other local authors who have talked about their experiences and shared their expertise. I sold a few books - barely enough to cover my costs. I met some great people who I still talk to, and we pass our books around amongst each other, write each other reviews, etc.

I got serious into social media - created a website, a newsletter, even purchased advertising. I tried Patreon. I even tried to create an indie blog that focused on helping out indie authors promote their books.

Then I decided to rewrite the entire novel, because in those 10 years, my voice has changed a lot, and I no longer feel that it accurately shows my ability as a writer. I cringe when I read it.

Takes a deep breath Now my novel is sitting, half rewritten, in my folders on my computer collecting dust because I'm just tired.

All that being said... Is it because I wasn't extroverted enough? No, I don't think so. I put myself out there in every way I could think of. Is it because I'm not good at marketing? Shrug. I made some really cool posters, business cards, advertised anywhere I could. Is my story not as good as I think it is? Eh. Of all the reasons as to why it's not working out, I don't necessarily feel this last one is a real reason. I mean, with all the people in this world, there's something for everyone. I just haven't been able to connect with those people yet. Or, that's what I tell myself, anyway.

Is it happening as fast as I want it to? God, no. I really thought by 30, I would have my novel published. I never expected to be the next JK Rowling. But a damn ISBN would be nice. (Okay, I know it's easy enough to get that these days on Amazon or Lulu lol). The point is, I didn't want to go the self published route. I wanted the 'legitimacy' of a publisher and an agent. I thought, if I could at the very least nail down an agent, I would look legit. If I could just get that one person to notice me, everything else would fall into place. An agent meant publishers would take me seriously. A publisher meant the world would take me seriously. I wouldn't be just another nobody who put their book on Amazon because anyone can these days.

That was an older opinion of mine. One that has changed over the years. I mean, it's freaking 2021. Websites like Tapas and Webtoons - websites I used to stick my nose up at because I thought they were beneath me - they've offered more for their artists than I ever thought possible. And we're really in a golden age of media. I mean, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc - all these places are creating their own shows and movies, and they're even making deals with some of these websites!

Okay, yeah, shut up, that's all well and good, but it's still not happening for me, or you, or any of us here in this thread. And my reply here has turned into a huge rambling tangent. I guess what I'm trying to say is a few things.

1 -- you're not alone!
2 -- it's okay to feel like giving up
3 -- but that being said, if this is truly the life you choose, you have to come to terms that nothing in this line of work is going to happen the way you want it to, at the speed you want it to.

To add a small light at the end of the tunnel that is my story - its been a long time. I've tried a lot of different things. But the thing is, I kept trying. I gave myself the days I needed to feel defeated, and then I picked myself up again and got back on the horse. Even if I just needed to take a break and work on something new or different to get excited again. I kept looking online, I kept searching for events, I kept reaching out to people. Yes, it's tedious. It's heart breaking. It's exhausting.

But one of these days, something will come out of your efforts. Maybe, just maybe, that has happened for me. It's still too early to tell... but things are promising. And I never would have found the lead I found if I didn't keep trying.

There's a post I saw recently, and I think it's worth sharing here (you know, just to make my ridiculously long reply even longer...)

Whatever your dream is, it is not too late to achieve it. You aren’t a failure because you haven’t found fame and fortune by the age of 21. Hell, it’s okay if you don’t even know what your dream is yet. Even if you’re flipping burgers, waiting tables or answering phones today, you never know where you’ll end up tomorrow.

Never tell yourself you’re too old to make it.

Never tell yourself you missed your chance.

Never tell yourself that you aren’t good enough.

You can do it. Whatever it is.