How to stop daydreaming and start executing?

[rifqifajarzain]

I found another problem that has been jamming my creative engine for years: Sluggish execution.

Complete device still will not help if I am being too excited and daydreaming before actualy start to draw/create as daydreaming is still way more fun than actually making it. I got so many action scenes and stories in my head but there are not many of them I turn into real works, as if everything in my head want to exist in a blink of an eye.

Deadline can be the solution, like timed art challenges, prompts, and weekly post. But how can I do with my comic project, especially if the only purpose right now is wanting my comic to be existed, not because for the living or anything?

[joannekwan]

Since you have so many ideas, a good first step would be to write them down! Once your ideas are written somewhere, you won't forget them and you can start organizing these snippets into something more coherent.

And the more you jot down, the more likely you'll have the materials you need to start building a framework for your story be it an outline, plot, sequence of key scenes, or even just a premises for why these things are happening.

[SpavVy]

I agree with joannekwan just start writing it down even if it's just snippets on sticky notes or a rough draft to at least get something going. Sometimes if I'm not at home or about to go to bed and I get an idea I will also jot them down in my phone's notes so I won't forget.

[SleepingPoppy]

But how can I do with my comic project, especially if the only purpose right now is wanting my comic to be existed, not because for the living or anything?

"For fun" or "because I want to see it exist" are actually super valid reasons for making stuff. You don't need professional goals for something to be valuable or worthy of your time! Though the tough part is wanting it enough to actually put the effort into making it- it'll never just manifest fully formed. Comics take what sometimes feel like a thousand years.

So yeah, I'll third joannekwan's advice and say start writing stuff down!

My follow up advice would be to consider starting with an idea that could be turned into something short to make. Short story, or even a single scene from a bigger story in your head. Just something that you can feel like you've completed and work some of the kinks out. Doing that will help you figure out how to move forward with other projects.

[iamvcdgamer]

My solution was by planning out the story all the way to the ending, with many major gaps in between, then i discussed the earlier chapters with my sister.
How that helped: I already got the first arc of my comic planned out in my head, all that's left is to draw them. And as for deadlines, my deadline is every month.
If you want your comic to actually exist, make it stand out by making it frequent at a regular interval. That way, no one would ignore it, or you could also participate in the forums, that could also make people aware of your comic, even if you aren't on a deadline.
Hope you found this info useful?

[Kaydreamer]

For me, it was two things:

• Completing a chapter of script, which I wrote very quickly in a weekend flurry of inspiration, and which gave me a path to follow when I started drawing my comic.
• Having a reason other than 'I want to make it'. The original point of Blue Star Rebellion was simply to serve as a practice project, so I could acquire the comic-making skills I'd need to be an illustrator in the comic industry. It wound up growing quite a bit bigger than I anticipated, and is very much its own thing now - I'm dedicated to making it, and the projects which will follow it, the cornerstones of my career, rather than working for others. But I'd never have started it if I didn't initially think I needed to make something as practice for industry work.

[rajillustration]

I'll be honest, I have a lot of ideas floating in my head that I've never written down because they aren't really done being daydreams yet. But I will say that the only reason that I'm currently making my comic is because I wrote it for NaNoWriMo 2 years ago (1 year ago? I don't remember anymore, 2020 erased my memory). I was watching my friends apartment and their sick cat for like a good while, and just had nothing to do but Netflix and writing The Shapeshifter's Wife because my drawing tablet I brought for the labtop I borrowed did not work with linux. So NaNoWriMo did it for me. Didn't expect for it to click so well once I started writing it because it was just a string of random daydreams, but once you start writing it gets a little easier to see how to cement it as a solid structure of a story. I just needed to make the time to write.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

Buy a guillotine and go to Place de la Concorde. Start beheading those tyrants! Don't let your dream be a dream uwu!

People have said better answer. The hardest thing for me is to actually do it, everything will start to get easier (even marginally) once you have done it. It is like when you feel doubtful to go into the water before swimming, but feel it hard to stop after you already get wet.

Also I don't wanna have regret like "Why didn't I do it sooner?" or "If only I tried to do it." Even if you don't get much success, at least you do it. You do something productive. Not being a daydreaming human who does nothing and better sent to fertilizer factory.

[skullkaizer]

hi c:

I had the same problem, I think.. take this advice with a grain of salt..
to be able to draw faster than you can daydream you need to have the idea to be 95% and the art 5%
just draw the basics and execute your idea without caring about the art as details but as a tool.
to start just draw an empty panel, oh you already drawing! if you dont know where to start your idea, just start with introducing the world your character lives, and then show your character, start it slow and build your story step by step as it is drawn.
once you have drawn your idea you can always come back to redraw it with more details or rework it
here my work LBUB curently just sketches with focus just on the idea but I having a remaster planed with nice details and much more effort on the art.

[TedGravesArt]

Writing ideas down when you have them is a good idea to keep you focused on production. But the real solution to execution is to just draw dude. Just sit down and get after it. There's no trick to it, no secret, you've just got to dedicate yourself to actually doing it. Make a work schedule and stick to it religiously.
Personally I've found that the more I produce, the more addicted I am to the process, and the more I get excited to get to the really good parts that I have planned for later in the story. That shit keeps me motivated in a big way!