How to balance webcomics with life?

[rd_inks]

Hey all, I'm really digging the supportive community in the few weeks that I've been here. I figured you'd all have some good views on this one.

My webcomic is going to be a long-runner, rolling out over many years to come and I have no intention of giving it up. But it's hand drawn and buffer-less (it's a slightly long story to explain how it got that way but I have a way of getting a small one going soon) and currently I'm able to keep up fairly well (unless I'm working lots of hours that week)

So far I've been able to reduce my work hours down as I'm self-employed so hopefully will have more comic time coming up. However, I'm planning a possible career change which I'll need time and resources for if I have to take any courses etc. And over the next few years, I have to prepare for the possibility of meeting someone/kids/life etc

So my question is, what advice do you guys have for juggling it all?

I REALLY don't want to be 'that guy' taking loads of hiatuses with no explanation, dragging things on forever and quitting when things start to get good in the story. I've come this far and a decent number of followers on social media have witnessed my journey over 3 years so I'm not going to let them down. But I also don't want to burn out and string them along.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

• rd_inks -

[akemikae]

I made the mistake of starting to publish my comic without having a buffer. Don't do this if you plan on updating consistently AND still have a social life outside of your computer desk. I just barely got a buffer going, and my comic has been up for a year. It has changed the work load a ton, and I suddenly enjoy the work on the pages now. It used to feel rushed and frustrating, cause I didn't have any extra time whatsoever. So have a buffer. I'd recommend backing up pages so you have pages ahead of time for about a month. It really does help.

The key to this is no matter what, do not post more pages than you can without taking away from your buffer. I only have enough of a buffer right now to post 2 pages a week. While it's tempting to try and increase that amount of pages to 3, that would simply eat away at extra pages that I do not have.

I also tend to draw extra pages before a busy time in my life is gonna come up. This helps me prevent not being able to update, so I don't have to take an unexpected hiatus.

I hope this helps you!!

[TimCaloweh]

When the time comes ask for help. Get help. Deny help if need be. And if it never comes don't stop asking. Last resort is you ask this "someone" to help. Ask your kids to help. But just remember to help others when they need it as well.

[rd_inks]

Looks like it may be buffer time then - I have a plan for getting one going (an entire Inktober chapter ready to roll out over a few weeks should be sufficient )

I don't have much of a social life and I don't mind that, but at some point that's gonna have to change lol. Hence why I posted. Agreed, it's so much easier when you're not rushing. When I originally started I put out about 6-8 pages every 2 weeks which was actually harder than expected, plus it hurt readership. So I changed to weekly which is great but all my time goes toward the comic.

I'm gonna One Punch Man it and try and 'break my limiter' over the next few weeks in order to get some sort of buffer going - wish me luck!

[akemikae]

You can do it!! I had a crazy week a bit ago, and was able to draw like 9 full pages, so I finally was able to start gaining a buffer. I have no idea what happened, but I took advantage of the inspiration and good work flow. Now I can finally chill out a little bit, actually play games, hang out with friends, and see my husband. Lol.

Weekly updates seem to be what readers like the most. Daily seems to overwhelm them, and biweekly is too long of a wait. So spreading out pages to do weekly rather than bigger updates less often seems to be the perfect balance. (Though, I see some people do daily, and it's fine, I just personally as a reader as well, find it a bit much).

Weekly also tends to help how often you're viewed on the website as well.

I say best to work your ass off and possibly wear yourself out only at the start of your comic, so that, hopefully the years left for work on your comic can be smooth sailing.

[punkarsenic]

massive! buffer! massive! buffer!!!!!!!!!

also, doing batches of pages is really helpful - i make 2-4 pages at once on a weekend, way faster than doing one at a time. it helps to get out of the idea that youre gonna sit down, and only get up when a page is complete - when you have a spare two hours, sketch out two pages, inking and colouring in other spare time.

that all said, i dont think im amazing at balancing life and comics. i dont have like, any free time :')

[rd_inks]

Definitely gonna heed the advice you guys have given me - December's gonna be a crazy month for sure. Things quieten down after this crucial week though so it'll be a week of hell!

Funnily enough, the writing buffer is massive (but I end up rewriting all the dialogue anyway haha) Looks like I've gotta just get faster and better for now D:

I'm racing to finish my current pages as we speak - and leaving for work in 3 hours. Just. 2 panels. LEFT!

[Rhombik]

I'm repeating others but I'm also a big fan of Buffer the Inconvenience Slayer.

I think 2 weeks worth is the minimum buffer as this usually takes care of flu, busy work times and family crisis. Anything that knocks you out for longer than 2 weeks deserves a hiatus.

[TheThoughtfulBoxful]

Broken record here: BUILD A HUGE BUFFER.

I haven't even started uploading my comic, and I'm just realizing how much freaking work is going to go into it. And so I plan!
If you can, get at least 3 months of comic updates done (depending on your update schedule), plus a good chunk of the rest already sketched out so you don't lose momentum.

I'm with @punkarsenic when it comes to working on multiple pages at a time. It evens out the work load, and gives you a better sense of accomplishment as opposed to kicking yourself for not completing that one page in a day.

I repeat, BUILD A BUFFER.

[spadesart]

i keep a 1 week buffer and (try to) split my pages into a 3 day step, sketch one day, lines the next, and colors the next. i should probably just keep a bigger buffer but sketch days tend to leave a good amount of time to get other stuff done

[NanettesClouds]

In addition to the "build a buffer" advice I wanna suggest also taking a break in between "chapters" to rebuild your buffer. So like, once you finish a chapter, take a month to rebuild that backlog and get things back in order. Ideally by the time you're uploading that chapter you should be on to working on the next chapter, but that's not always feasible.

In my case I'm gonna take a 2-5 month break because I use longer "parts" not "chapters", and because I wanna do another minicomic, and keep my job, and do well in school, and have a social life. A long break like that seems seems sorta scary, but there aren't as many readers during the winter, so taking a break until next spring or next summer isn't a huuugeee loss? Maybe? Someone call me out on this if it's a bad idea.

[sauropasquini]

I'm 47, I have a full-time job and a family. In order to be able to draw my comic, I planned some moments during the week that are dedicated to it. For example, on sunday morning, insead of sleeping more, I wake up early and draw meantime familiy is sleeping. On monday evening my wife follow a TV show I don't care about, so I'm drawing. Things like this.
Everything else is simply planning: Have a small buffer, write down things before, so when drawing time is coming, you'll use it only for drawing and not for anything else.

[rd_inks]

Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate it

I update with 3 pages a week so getting them all done in bulk hasn't been too bad. But something tells me you guys are recommending a buffer? I can't quite put my finger on it

But seriously, yeah it's definitely time to get one going. I decided against it due to a 2 weekly update schedule early into the comics run, but that changed when I realised it hurt readership from the get go. So I went weekly with no buffer to speak of. Originally there were plans to get a few months worth in but I'm happy I went down this route as it's pushed me massively as an artist.

But now that things are kicking off and there'll be a lot of change outside of webcomics, a buffer is necessary. I'm gonna work my ass off on the few days off I have so I can get one going!

Wish me luck!

[LCT_m_a_d]

Id say be realistic and introspective about it. No one juggles well. I worked a very demanding position at a chaotic time for a tech firm. I took up a bunch of productivity advice, buffers, workflow etc... ultimately I ended up starting to treat this project as a second job all about hitting deadlines. I had more than enough time than needed pn paper. But then I started to drift further away from what I was looking for until I decided to scrap the project and start all over (My comic is my baby). Now, no buffers no schedules, I just work on what I love and let things grow. Im not creating a lot, but Im very proud and fullfilled.

Heres what I really learned. Start looking at where projects fit in your life as a human being. If you are making art for the sake of it being a hobby, don't try to structure it around worklogs and tasks. One page a month fine... one page a year... fine. I don't want to sound discouraging of productivity advice, but really let life happen. Prioritize, and you'll find your work/life balances itself out. Even if its not the way we thought we wanted it to. If you value a career change or especially starting a family don't start comprising aspects of those to juggle other pursuits.

[rd_inks]

Hmm I suppose it's about striking the balance. On one hand I want to be super productive but then I don't want to neglect other areas of my life too much. Too many rabbits. It doesn't help that I'm trying to make a serious go of this webcomic thing either.

For now I can focus on the comics, the career change will probably happen in a few months and the family stuff is way further in the future. You're right about the prioritising bit - in fact I really like this whole reply a lot. I'm gonna take some time to think about what's important and just take it a day at a time for now.

[rmdooley]

Webcomics > Life

Behave as such

And don't take my advice if you want to be happy

[dawgofdawgness]

I split my comic-making process into days of the week, like on tuesday I'll finish thumbnailing the comic page, on wednesday I'll start the lineart, and over the weekends I try to finish it up.

But then again I don't really follow this schedule because homework apparently is a thing now.

[Dello]

Everyday before my webcomic I do everything that is important. Also move my off day so a I can go go to the very important thing.