Is it a waste of time? [Discussion]

[Illo]

Lately, I started writing for fun but I realize that no matter how good or how much I make nothing really stands out from all of the other forms of media uploaded on this site, It's not like I started writing to become famous but after spending half a year trying to bring my main story into a respectable state I still find myself alone, like nothing I do reaches the people I want to or spreads the message I want to spread, and this kind of makes me feel like I'm wasting my time on something futile

I don't plan on stopping since I personally enjoy writing but I want the opinion of other people on this topic, Do you feel like your series isn't aimed at the people you want to aim? And even if you are a somewhat successful writer/artist feel free to express your opinion on this topic too because I feel like this kind of topic isn't as much talked about as others

[VersusVII]

After summer I feel like I'm not reaching anybody with my accounts. I'm trying to promote my manga and the social are sort of shadowbanning me even more than before, hiding me from my own followers.

Because I'm not good in promoting, few people know about my manfa and I don't get feedback. Is it good? Do readers enjoy or understand my translation? So many questions

[HGohwell]

I guess it depends what exactly you're aiming for and what you want out of spreading your message and what you consider success, that's all relative to each persons perspective. It also could just be burn out, or a slump, every creative goes through those, after all, especially if you're working hard constantly on one project.

However, if that's truly how you feel, after a year and a half, there's nothing wrong with throwing in the towel on a project. Webseries are a long haul project, but at the same time, if you're not getting where you want to be, it's often said to just keep going and keep trying, but there's also nothing wrong with realising the piece isn't working. Maybe not because it's a bad story or your art or bad or whatever, but because the timing of release was wrong (luck and trend can effect things) or you're just not ready to take on such a story yet or any number of other reasons. I think too often people keep pushing on with this idea that if they just keep going they'll make it eventually, when sometimes you need to put the project down and step away and maybe try something new, maybe something short like a pallet cleanser, and see if that helps with motivation or popularity or anything else that might help.

[Chocolate]

No it’s not your fault. Tapas is not what it was used to be. It used to promote indie work and give spotlight to smaller creators. Now it’s filled with Korean mahwa and leaving us indie artists in the dark; they don’t even give us the front page spotlight no more.

[Kelheor]

I don't think it's futile or a waste of time at all, as long as you enjoy the process and learn how to become a better creator.
It could be that it's hard to find your novel (and I bet it is, it's hard enough for small comics and harder for novels) and just maybe this is not a good site for you. For a better chance to be noticed here, one should at least make the best presentation they can, i.e. getting a great looking cover, updating on schedule, trying to promo here and there, etc. Unfortunately, it is really important for online publishing.

The raw thought of "I am not presenting readers something that stands out" is something completely devastating here. Maybe you are not wrong, but then there are hundreds of villainesses comics on this site right now. So IMO you either try treating what you do as something special or start making something special in whatever way you can imagine. In other words, one should learn how to become a better creator for their own sake. It will take time and attempts, and probably you will have to write a lot of things, maybe even in different genres before you find what you can actually do great.

(Also, yes, I do feel you on the idea that the series isn't aimed at the people I would probably want to aim at. There are quite a few reasons for that and I suppose some changes could've broaden the readership... but then it won't be the same story anymore.)

[Flios]

It's definitely not a waste of time. I often feel that my writing doesn't reach people also, but its alright because there's always people supporting you on your journey. Besides, writing for enjoyment is what most tapas creators do.

[Lensing]

I think you started great with "lately I started writing for fun" and I would continue that path
and don´t go down the "like nothing I do reaches the people" and "do you feel like your series isn´t
aimed at the people you want to aim" path.
Open up yourself and write something from the bottom of your heart without thinking about
a target audience and I can guarantee you that this will be better work than the writing
for people stuff

[darthmongoose]

All right... so I see this a lot on the Tapas forum and discord, and it can be really hard to get this across nicely and gently, but I'll try. Please take this in the spirit of me trying to give helpful advice and not trying to put people down or be mean...

Tapas is a place where you are competing for attention against literal professional artists and writers. Professionals who have been published. Professionals who get paid for their work. Professionals with years of experience in their field, qualifications and often people who have placed in big competitions, spoken on panels at events or run workshops.

Succeeding on Tapas means competing with them, and it's not impossible, because the resources are all out there. You can find illustrators to draw or paint covers, or good sites for stock photos, and you can find free image editing software and loads of tutorials on how to use it, and how to make a nice looking novel cover if you just do some internet searching. It's not that hard to seek out beta readers or feedback on your grammar, or to read books or even free blogs on story and scene structure. It's easy to go and read a bunch of popular works on Tapas in your chosen genre and to make notes of what they do well and how they promote themselves.

Before you start throwing around phrases like "no matter what I do...", you need to actually exhaust all the things you could do, but haven't done yet. There are still plenty of things you could try, like improving the typography, imagery and presentation of your covers, looking for an artist to draw you something, finding a beta reader or somebody willing to give feedback on your grammar and pacing, trying new approaches to promotion. That's what people with lots of subs are doing; they give this stuff a lot of time and attention!

And if that sounds like too much, and actually you just want to write for fun and be part of a community, you need to either be at peace with having just a small, dedicated audience who are also writers and enjoy the shared act of creation and the freedom to learn at your own pace (nothing wrong with that, it's pretty nice! I hung out in places like that when I first made comics), or find communities more focused around hobbyist writers where readers don't expect such professional presentation. Sitting being miserable about low performance on Tapas while not pushing yourself to rise to the challenge of trying to make work at Tapas readers' expected professional level can only bring resentment and frustration.

[rajillustration]

eh half a year really isn't that long to be publishing your work anyway. Stuff takes years before it gets huge, typically. Some authors really bang it out of the gate--but the secret is they had followers from works they made before (which again, took years to create a brand.)

Like it can be overwhelming to approach it all at once, but to instead approach your work and your promotion one step at a time--Like to get huge on tik tok for instance requires doing a video every day. How many of us can physically do that? So we work slowly to that point, we research what experts in the field are doing and the advice they give, so we can learn how to do videos quicker through practice and error.

As for writing your novel, a lot of novelists post in many places, using Tapas as a mirror. They have often found better results on novel branded apps, although there is a lot of foot traffic here. So it could be also you just need to mirror your comic to other places to find those few loyal readers that help keep it worth doing.

And finally, if you spent the time making something to post, you had a reason to do that. So no, it wasn't a waste. You wanted the experience, you probably enjoyed writing the experience, so even if it doesn't hit (and most stuff doesn't hit, it's completely normal) I hope that you won't look at it as a waste of time. Because clearly, it did mean something to you, and there is a lot of purpose to that.

[SleepingPoppy]

after spending half a year trying to bring my main story into a respectable state I still find myself alone, like nothing I do reaches the people I want to

I don’t know if this is your situation, but I’ve definitely seen creators get hung up on one specific story they want to make. It’s totally understandable and relatable, but I think the reality is there is no guarantee your first story/stories will blow up. You shouldn’t necessarily spend all your time focused on polishing this one story that never gains traction. It might take several projects before you hit your stride, and if you do, chances are people will go back and read your previous stuff too. So the story you love isn’t “dead” just because you eventually move on to other things.

Personally, my first comic had about 30 followers, and I was psyched. My second, started years later with a new pen name, has a few thousand. And I’m still not a “big” creator, but I am still psyched! I have learned so much, and I hope I can eventually finish this project and maybe the next will be even bigger. Though it only gets more competitive out there, so who knows what will happen!

As long as you are moving forward and keep reassessing your goals and accomplishments, I don’t think any of it’s a waste of time. But it’s important to learn from every project so you can move forward. Don’t loose the forest for the trees!

[clarissapattern]

@SleepingPoppy, why did you decide to relaunch with a different name? were you doing a completely different type of story or just wanted a fresh start?
I am in awe of your thousands of subs! Did you do anything differently with your second story?

[SleepingPoppy]

I didn’t really have an online pseudonym with the first project, and lots of people from my real life had links to it. I wanted to be anonymous and craft a persona I was happy with.

I think the story back then was more all over the place. didn’t fit a good story structure, or have any real arcs or anything. Current story isn’t perfect, but there’s a lot more meat to it, so more satisfying to read. And then my art is leaps and bounds better as there was a few years inbetween that I spent really working on a consistent quality style.

I’ve also spent several years longer on the current project, so there’s been more time for growth!

[clarissapattern]

It's really nice if you can see an improvement in your own work. My novel has taken years to write, I envy people who can pop out a new project every month I have become one of the thousands of subscribers to your work, I look forward to reading it.
Are you more confident in yourself as a creator with the validation of so many people invested in your work, or does it feel the same as when you only had a couple of dozen readers? My writer friends and me talk about validation so often, it's really cool to hear how it's been for you on your journey.

[Im_moron]

I'm sorry to tell you this, but I've been working on a webcomic for years and I'm dealing with it too. (hey, struggling writers unite am I right?)

The post I linked has some really good insight from people like Darth (who I noticed replied to this post).

I can't really give advice as I feel most people might have said what I was already planning to say, but if you want it anyways, it takes a lot of effort to get more visibility in something.

There probably isn't anything wrong with just writing for fun, but if you want people to see your work (which is valid, that's literally every single writer ever), it might take some work to make sure your work is very presentable. As Darth said, it might be getting a good cover, I think (and I personally should be doing this more), its actually participating in the community you are posting in, and it can be anything from popping into RP posts, being in discussions that aren't about your work, or even making posts asking for help or feedback (like this post!)

I know for certain, the biggest way I got people to look at the things I've made was by being a very active person in the comment sections of multiple comics (that by the way, I enjoy reading) and by supporting other people's works and being friends with them.

I know back in the day, doing this might have been way easier for me than now, I know now that it's a little harder because the competition's gone harder, but it can't hurt to make friends.

[SleepingPoppy]

, I look forward to reading it.

You’re very sweet! I hope you enjoy it.

Are you more confident in yourself as a creator with the validation of so many people invested in your work, or does it feel the same as when you only had a couple of dozen readers?

Hmm… I think I vacillate back and forth? It feels amazing to have a growing readership. It feels weird, too, because while I like my project, I don’t always feel like it deserves its level of attention. It’s also a lot of pressure, too, though I make a point to focus on doing it all “for myself” as that frame of mind helps me.

Less than the exact number, I think just feeling like there’s growth in readership/skill it feels good!

[SleepingPoppy]

My novel has taken years to write

Saaaame! I’ve been on this comic for years, and I’m juiuust getting to the really fun stuff now. But it’s slow going because of my job. those who work fast are true masters!

[powerplantanimations]

I don't think I expected to get the fanbase I'd thought with That Stick Figure Isekai, but still I am thankful af (originally... I wanted to be big on Webtoons since that's where all my friends were at, but like... shooot. hundreds of people liking me on another site? Sign me UP son). For me, while I do want to get big, I feel like putting your all into every project is important. You'll get noticed, could happen soon. I wasn't expecting an artists to actually take my stick figure idea seriously, but when I pitched the idea, I got SO MANY artists wanting to work on it. I expected to be 30 years old for my work to finally get drawn. I didn't expect to learn how to edit properly on YouTube. Thought I'd never nail it in my lifetime. But I figured it out in a year. I didn't expect for animators to read through my comic and want to work with me. But yeah... it happened.

I will say I DID have to learn the in's-and-out's on Tapas to make my comics appealing. I changed the artstyle of my protags, I made the villain in my next two comics a "villainess", I studied aesthetics and what would be appealing. Business and marketing is like 50% of creating. I've gotten reactions from artists on an Art Discord kinda stick their nose at me and say that I'm not REALLY making art but like... I'm running on all cylinders when it comes to writing lol.

[bloodstained.skies]

I didn't even started publishing but I already feel like all of it was in vain. I'm putting so much effort but my chances of reaching people are at least low. I heard that you have 0.1% of chance to earn ANYTHING from your art/writing. My problem is: I'm kind of addicted from attention and creating art and I can't stop. I just HAVE TO do it.

[clarissapattern]

You just have to create what you need to create, and if you want to work as hard as you can on the promotion too. But most important is to be fulfilled yourself and proud of what you have done.

[system]

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