I'm not having fun with my comic?

Princessmossy 2016-09-30 02:21:29 UTC #1

I don't know why but I'm not having fun with my comic! This always happens. I get bored or it and don't want to continue writing. I can't tell if its the genre, the story, the art style or maybe just comic making in general! How do I make it fun? I seem to prefer one big drawing instead of a bunch of small panels so maybe I find it tedious? But it's not a very interesting comic that way is it? Or maybe its because I just don't know what I'm doing and get frustrated? Or maybe it's because I don't like the art style I have now that I'm shifting into something different? I don't know... I thought that creating comics was something I wanted to do with my life but now I wonder if maybe it's not? But I really want to share a story through art. Lately however with the struggled I've been having to stay committed to my comics I've wondered if that's not a good choice even if I really wan't to do it...

I'm not sure if something is wrong with me or wrong with my story but I find it boring. I find every story I write boring except for the newest one to pop in my head or sometimes an old story that came to mind again. Even now a new story in my head is keeping me from writing the old one! But I already promised that I would for sure, definitely, for real, actually complete this story this time! What on earth should I do? I have some people telling me to just keep writing it and other people saying to just give up and write the new one you find more interesting now...

Shanny8 2016-09-30 02:44:58 UTC #2

You could just go ahead and do another comic...you may want to do some "comic creator soul searching", and try to figure out what exactly it is that you want to do. It seems like no matter what you do- even if you were to try & do a new comic, who's to say you might get the same way about that one? While I'm not exactly one to say, "you must do this story- even if you now hate it", you need to get to a point in your comic making where you pick an idea and stick with it. You have to ask if you're developing the story/characters enough? I took some months trying to develop my story & characters for my 1st chapter before I put pencil to it; I wanted to make sure this was a story I wanted to tell.

Elaborate...explain.

The point of making a comic is telling a story through a visual medium with illustration. Even if you were to do one page as opposed to using different panels per page- that one pic(per page) would have to capture the essence of the story that you're trying to tell.

Princessmossy 2016-09-30 02:52:40 UTC #3

Hmm that's true your very right.

You see what I mean by not knowing what I'm doing is there aren't exactly great tutorials online for comics specifically and every tutorial I've seen for things like panel layout have been kinda confusing for me. I'm still just kinda hoping that I'll figure out how panels and speech bubbles work if I just make a comic but then I get frustrated because I've moved a speech bubble five times and changed the font to every one imaginable and it still doesn't look right...

So you know if anyone has any like "comic making for dummies" or tutorials that are really easy to understand I would also appreciate that... The tapastic one they have was kind of helpful? I still don't understand the dead end thing they tried to exsplain.

spadesart 2016-09-30 02:56:06 UTC #4

IMO I'd just stop? If you don't enjoy it then don't force yourself to do it. (if it's story based) How are you going about making them? Are you jumping in with no script or no outline? From experience I can tell you working with no script often had me stuck and hating the outcome of much of the writing in that project. Also, is there an update schedule? The 'updates whenever' schedule used to land me in dead ends where there would be 2-3 months between pages and pages took weeks to draw. I made all these mistakes with my last comic and had absolutely no motivation to complete it whatsoever.

I remember hearing you should write a story you yourself would want to read, it's helped me create fun characters and get really attached to them with my current comic. I sincerely suggest if you aren't working off a script and outline to make one once you decide on a storyline to make. When my comic popped into my head I immediately got to work on a plot outline and it pumped me up for the story even more, it made me motivated to get to the parts I've got written down. I'm now at 50 pages using this which is so surreal to me since I never broke 15 pages with my projects before this.

phen 2016-09-30 03:07:50 UTC #5

With respect to "comic making for dummies" I HIGHLY recommend:

Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics (The Invisible Art)
Will Eisner's Theory of Comics & Sequential Art

I took a couple of comics classes in university and these books were required reading. Eisner's is a little dated but they're both incredible resources for things that go beyond merely panels and speech bubbles. They cover gutters, lettering, organisation of scripts, and overall composition as well. I think that's what you might be lacking now -- organisation/a focused flow of your ideas and output.

Regardless, focus on what you most enjoy during your process and work out from there! It's very cool that you have so many new ideas that get you excited, we just need to get a good hold on that excitement so we can power through during the less-exciting times. ^^v

Shanny8 2016-09-30 03:17:18 UTC #6

@monkeyball123abc Are you lettering by hand or digital? If digital, check out Balloon Tales, Jim Campbell's blog page, Blambot Fonts, and Ninja Lettering to learn about comic lettering. I used these sites to help me learn to (better)letter my comics.

As for comics making itself, there are tutorials on YouTube that can help. The main thing you want keep in mind is that you need to be able to tell the story from panel to panel- which ensures that you tell the story from page to page. There is no written rule that says "you MUST use X amount of panels per page"- you can use as little as one panel or as many as you can fit on the page. Think of your comic as a movie- in a movie, you see that they film scenes from different camera angles; same rule applies in comics. You want to be able to draw from different angles and capture the best "shot" that captures the story you're trying to tell. Also keep in mind, that you have to leave space for the lettering; you want to keep your lettering size between 7 & 10 point- anything larger than that takes up too much space.

Princessmossy 2016-09-30 03:17:50 UTC #7

Ah I love the tapastic forums so much always so helpful! Thank you all so much!

Yes I wrote out an entire script for chapter one before I started. I didn't do the whole comic because I learned from a past exsperiences I just get burned out and stuck in a rut and extra bored because I'm reluctant to change anything. Also because chapter 1 ended up really long some how? I do first a written script and then I do a rough draft on paper and then a good copy on computer. But I found both when planning and not planning the story I get bored of it. I get bored if I plan too much and move on to another comic anyway or I get bored after writting the same comic because I lose direction. Guess I gotta work in the balance between those two...
Currently on my current comic I have chapter one all planned out, chapter 2 and 3 roughly outlined and after that is a mystery but I always have the end planned out. I can't help but think about the ending. No matter what happens the ending is always the thing I think about the most. I've tried not coming up with an ending and found that I can't. I have an ending to every story I've ever come up with in my life it just happens without me trying. I tried not to think about an ending for my current comic but was only able to resist for about a week before it ended up in my head... I don't know if that's good or bad but I've realized its enevitable for me now.

Also thank you so much for the recommendations I'll check those out as soon as I can!

keii4ii 2016-09-30 03:30:37 UTC #8

Having an ending in mind is a GOOD thing. If you're like me, you also have to know how the rest of the story drives itself toward that ending. That way, the rest of the story isn't just "meandering around and wasting time until the ending just happens"... It's a cohesive path to the ending.

I do not have the entire thing scripted out. But I do need to know roughly how the whole thing goes. Not just the first couple chapters, but the whole thing.

That helps me keep the story cohesive, which means better quality = more motivation. It also gives me lots of favorite scenes (not just the ending) scattered throughout, which also means more motivation! "Oooooh I can't wait to get to this part where X and Y finally meet again!"

Michelle 2016-09-30 03:30:38 UTC #9

A lot of good advice here! I'm curious to know-- are comics a hobby for you, or something you want to get serious about? If it's just a fun hobby, don't feel too bad about jumping around and just doing what feels fun at the moment. That's the whole point of a hobby.

But if you're aiming to do comics seriously, then unfortunately there are many times where it's just super duper boring. No one enjoys working on their comic all of the time, because it's work. A LOT of work. Planning your comic in the early stages helps a lot, because when you get to a page you aren't thrilled about, you already know what you have to do-- it just becomes a matter of getting it done. Even though I enjoy making my comic, I'm still always excited to be done drawing the week's page because the process is so labor-intensive and at times very, very tedious.

mintycanoodles 2016-09-30 03:58:57 UTC #10

i read this article on writing advice that had a bit about why your own story often feels boring and predictable to you - it's because you already know what's going to happen. things are exciting and interesting when we don't know what's going to happen, so, as the creator of the story it's hard to be as interested in the story as a reader would. it's also usually why new ideas are more appealing, you don't know all the details and don't know what the end is yet.

not sure what to do about this tho. i feel this a lot with my own story, but i've already decided to finish it so, i guess i just plod on with it? and hope someone else finds it more interesting than i do lol

that said, i think abandoning ship with something you just don't want to continue is totally alright too. when something just isn't working out, it isn't, and you don't have to push it.

shazzbaa 2016-09-30 04:34:01 UTC #11

I'm gonna bring up psychological stuff here, not necessarily to get an answer, but because it might be worth thinking about -- is this just and only with comics? If you write a book, can you finish that? If you set out to, idk, learn piano, do you do it, or do you get to a point where you've kinda figured stuff out and lose interest?

Have you thought about telling stories through other art media -- and if so, do those bore you in the same way? If you set out to learn Game Maker and make a little visual novel game, so that once all the sprites and backgrounds are done you don't have to make more art to finish out the story, would that be easier, or would you get bored halfway through that, too?

Have you tried telling shorter stories? A ten page comic is much easier to finish than a 100 page comic.

Is it actually boredom, or is it getting antsy about a new story, that you could be doing, that you're missing out on, and finding yourself unable to stay focused on your current one when it begins to drag?

Princessmossy 2016-09-30 04:45:39 UTC #12

Oh wow! You sound so professional and cool!

Hmm...
I find that this doesn't happen with writting stories until much later but it does seem to happen I think. For example I had a story on fanfiction when I was 14 the accumulated quite a nice small readership and although I still struggled with deadlines I actually managed to get around 20 really short chapters out. They were poorly written and only like a paragraph each but I remember liking how people were praising me and it made me want to continue. Hmm... However after awhile my values changed and I could no longer relate to the abusive relationship I had written in the story so I stopped. I also managed to write a one shot before and complete it. (The worst story I've ever written with a character name Jai Jun Matsuoka. I read it when I'm sad because it's hilariously bad.) but another story I tried to write I stopped because nobody was reading it and I guess I felt sad because this was right after I had gotten a bunch of readers into my old fanfiction that got mildly popular. Not even like very popular at all actually but I had 20 readers who would always drop by to read it and two people actively commenting and motivating me.

Meanwhile my comics usually die off at chapter one because I'm bored(?) or maybe I really am antsy about the new idea because there's always a new idea.
There is a comic I have fully fleshed out and planned out hundreds of times and I was going to write it however I stopped because of current events and was afraid I'd receive hate or something for it since a main character was a terrorist. I wrote it back in middle school too so it's awfully cheesy. But it's maybe the one story I've never grown tired of? Still I've written it out as a comic a number of times and usually came to come kind of block despite having it all planned out.

Did I mention my visual novels? I have started so many visual novels and rpg maker games it's kind of crazy. I had a really cool idea that I really wanted to do but well... I can't handle coding it by myself and I don't have money to hire someone to code it for me.

AnnaLandin 2016-09-30 06:01:05 UTC #13

Firstly, you need to sit down and really analyse what you're feeling. Is there something in common with all the times you lose interest? Does it always happen around the same time, or for the same reasons, etc.? If it's that you get distracted by a new idea, it might be worth trying to figure out how to either a.) put the new idea on hold while you finish the old one (and still be excited because now you have something to look forward to!) or b.) do both at the same time, if you have the time for it.

Questions to ask yourself: Are you growing bored because you haven't got any idea where you're going with your story? As in, you haven't planned enough? Are you getting bored because you've planned TOO much? Are you getting bored because you're trying to make things people want to read rather than stuff YOU want to tell? Are you getting too hung up on what people might think of your story? Have you really figured out WHY you want to tell your story?

Read a lot of comics. Read a LOT of comics. And I don't just mean read them the way a regular reader would; find pages that you like, and pick them apart. Why do you like it so much? How are the panels laid out? How to the speechbubbles flow across the page? What is it that makes the font look good? Etc. Learn by analysing what other people have done well. And, conversely, find stuff you DON'T like, and figure out why it DOESN'T work.

It's how I've learned what I know about comics.

And secondly - it's okay to not want to do comics. It is. It's okay if comics aren't your storytelling medium. There are LOADS of ways to share stories that aren't comics. You can do illustrated stories - i.e: prose with the occasional illustration. You can just do straight up illustration - there are ways to pack a lot of story even into a single image. If you want to do a longer narrative there, you can just do a series of illustrations that go together, but which aren't comic pages.

It is 100% okay for comics to not be a good fit for you. I used to think I'd grow up to be a novelist, until I realised that long-form prose wasn't my medium - comics were. I've got, like, 10 unfinished novels kicking around. That's hundreds and hundreds of thousands of words I had to wirte before I figured it out.

ETA:

It does seem like you have issues finishing anything at all, and not just comics. This could be a symptom of a LOT of things, and I'm not going to psycho-analyse you, because I don't have the necessary knowledge for that - but have you tried doing short, oneshot things? Like, 30 pages or less for the entire story, beginning to end? Not chapter one - the whole thing.

Sometimes, we have to practise finishing stuff.

I left a mess of unfinished projects behind me before I started doing shorter oneshot comics. It takes practise to learn how to structure a project, how to carry it out, and most of all it's worth learning how it feels to finish a thing, write "The end", and put it away. And you can start on as small a scale as you want, and build up from there.

carloswebcomic 2016-09-30 06:19:06 UTC #14

Yeah, I suffer the same problem. That's why I either do short stories (based around common characters) or no stories at all.
I think you might be not getting excited about a story, but a theme or a particular cool moment.
You got two choices, either harden the fuck up and truck through with discipline, or adjust your comic so you can hot-swap themes and ideas.

Princessmossy 2016-09-30 06:24:15 UTC #15

I have! My ideas end up getting too complicated anyway. Maybe I should try writting it as a short story first so I don't get too caught up with the wanting to add a bunch of things.

AnnaLandin 2016-09-30 06:28:47 UTC #16

I highly recommend going as short as possible! I suffer from the complexity thing too - my brain wants to expand on ALL THE THINGS, and what started as a oneshot ends up as a massive epic - but it's worth doing short things. Little things. Things you can conceivably finish in a couple of weeks or months.

Princessmossy 2016-09-30 06:37:34 UTC #17

I definitely see what you mean. I'll give it a try then! My sister keeps saying I should do that too! So I'll give it a go. I just have trouble thinking small scale... Hmm.

vongcw 2016-09-30 07:48:39 UTC #18

Heh - I'm a fellow too many new ideas look so much shinier than what I'm currently doing person too.

There are several ways I overcome the issue, but one thing that has really helped me is this:

Every page/scene must have a small something I really want to see happen. Like REALLY want to see happen. That could be a look on someone's, a smart remark, a good moment, an epic kick... etc. If there is nothing I want to see happen in a scene, I change the scene. I figure if I'm bored, so is my audience.

Hope that helps!

Btw having written stories of 60 000 word lengths before, the urge to quit always comes to all of us. Every 50-100 pages if you're writing. Much much faster for comics in my experience. Don't feel alone. Push through it and you often find the emotion will leave. While there is a time in life to experiment and do all kinds of things to find ourselves, I'm a great believer of finishing projects because we learn so much more. Especially discipline and patience, which is sometimes even more important than skill and a great idea.

kencoon7 2016-09-30 16:40:15 UTC #19

You might check out the Mark Trolley tutorials on YouTube.
I know what you mean about losing interest. I ran out of ideas on TheOldMan series and it seems to have died for now. I am currently learning how to draw Manga.
I know the time will come when the story or something will spark me again and I will be posting again.
It will probably happen for you too. Just hang in there.

Princessmossy 2016-09-30 16:46:06 UTC #20

You mean Mark Crilley? I've followed him since middle school hes my biggest inspiration! His comic tutorial ARE helpful but he doesn't really have much on paneling that I've watched. But yeah this man almost singlehandedly taught me how to draw!