Lack of Engagment How To Stay Postive?

[lizm]

I think my points may have been a bit too vague; when I said that I "had to ask" I didn't actually ask my friends for feedback, I just told them I've been working on a comic. A good number of them didn't say anything at all, which is also an obvious message--but the ones that did give positive feedback most definitely weren't doing it out of obligation, but that's just me talking about people I know. Depending on how you ask and how well you know the people you're asking, I'd be inclined to agree that their answers may not be genuine. Though I also believe that the author's attitude is an important factor; if people know you have confidence they will give you different feedback than they will for someone who's constantly going on and on about how unsure they are about their own work.

If a comic is plot-driven and needs some time to really get character development and the storyline going, that's obviously not an excuse for pages before the "good parts" to lack substance. I wasn't trying to imply that a successful plot twist magically makes people talk about a comic even if everything else is boring, but rather that the author always has a stronger attachment to the characters and that they see things in the dialogue and story that others simply won't--and some of those things are so subtle that giving readers more time to get to know the cast, for example, actually can make a huge difference.

[elixiadragmire]

@lizm @keii4ii I think THIS is what your talking about it.

You need the slower, quieter pace to balance the "good parts" (thou we shouldn't label them as good as all of it when it works together is 'good')

IF EVERYTHING WAS ACTION! ALL TIME! ACTION ARGH!!!!!

THATS boring, eat you savouries AND your sweets, helps balance the palette

[Tentakelgottheit]

That´s a problem I struggled with lately as well. Depending on what kind of story you´re writing, the people that read it my also differ. I noticed that people seem to be more inclined to comment on fast-paced comedy (like gag-a-day strips) than on more quiet, drawn-out epics.
This of course does not mean that one is better than the other, just that the author has to expect different reactions to different genres.
Just like carloswebcomics said it´s also about engaging the readers. Most react stronger to comic-strips that are close to somewhat real life, because they can relate to that easier.
In my experience, we got the most reactions on parts of "Strayer", when we either used little easter eggs, like special prints on shirts or peculiar things in the backgrounds or when we did complete shorts set in the universe of the story, without them being part of the main storyline.
I think that might be, because it´s easier to react to something that´s completed.

Of course you won´t be able to put that in every story you create and especially for a slower pace it can be quite difficult sometimes to keep the readers engaged.
For such times I think it works best if you remember why you´re drawing and what it is about your story you personally like so much. It can be really uplifting even if others don´t seem to care that much.
I say "seem" because that´s probably exactly it. Some readers aren´t just as vocal, but they probably still read and enjoy your comic even if they don´t comment on or like every page. I have to admit I´m just like that. I read a lot of comics, that I dearly enjoy and I often forget to tell the artists that.
Sometimes it just takes a lot of time to build a readership that is engaged in what is happening in your story.

Besides that I really noticed that people are not that vocal towards works as they have used to be? I´m not sure if that´s just me though.

[shaylafarley5]

Wow 700+, I only have 19 and that's motivating me. But it might depend on how long you've been working on just one thing. Sometimes you need to switch it up a bit and work on something else at least for a day or two. Or try drawing something new in different art styles.

[shazzbaa]

But here's the flipside: if you had to ask, can you really expect the response to be as genuine or enthusiastic as an unsolicited response? This is the biggest factor that holds me back from asking. I don't want to make people feel pressured to say nice things about my work.

I think there's a big difference between saying "hey, check out this thing I made!" versus "sooooo what do you think about this thing I made?" I would feel very nervous about asking the latter to someone unless I already knew they were interested, but I don't think the former puts any pressure on anyone.
I've had some friends I showed my comic to, and their response was basically "oh that's neat!" and that's it -- that's all they had to say! I'm probably not gonna go to the "oh that's neat" people for feedback very often, and I don't expect them to read my comic, and that's totally fine. :>

Another worry is that if my comic is just pages and pages of uninteresting stuff that's just required to be there for the good parts to make sense, is it really worth reading -- ESPECIALLY to people who don't even know whether the good parts are ever gonna happen?

I think the thing is that saying "I haven't gotten to the good stuff yet" doesn't automatically mean "that must mean everything else is uninteresting." Think about someone watching a movie who hits a particular part and yells "OH!!!!" out loud. That doesn't mean they were uninterested for the entire rest of the movie -- but they probably didn't have much to say yet because they were just absorbing it. People not commenting or engaging in a visible way doesn't mean it's uninteresting!

[keii4ii]

I think THIS is what your talking about it.

Of course we don't want a nonstop climax, whatever it may be for the genre. But the setup and cooldown parts of the story should be interesting too. You want the readers to feel a promise for a strong payoff, and you don't want them hanging onto that promise for so long that they get tired of waiting. You want to keep giving them reasons to care.

You're talking about pacing, which is a part of I'm talking about: the overall reading experience.

@shazzbaa @lizm Oh, yeah, we were/are definitely talking about very different cases. I wasn't even thinking about asking people in real life, as nobody in my social circle reads comics at all XD They all know I'm making one, and they all acknowledge that I'm a good artist, but they won't bother reading it (and I wouldn't want them to, unless they actually wanted to check it out for THEMSELVES).

That doesn't mean they were uninterested for the entire rest of the movie -- but they probably didn't have much to say yet because they were just absorbing it. People not commenting or engaging in a visible way doesn't mean it's uninteresting!

It's true, but there's the rub. There's not many ways to see how well you're doing as a storyteller. I'd be okay with getting very little comments if I knew for sure that my story was deeply, strongly resonating with people, receiving their full attention and staying in their memories (I would STILL love to get lots of comments, but that's secondary). But I'll never know.