Making comics while you're disabled?

[GumshoeComix]

I try not to complain too much about it
but I have an upcoming hospital stay. And I had two last year and the year before that Which makes it really hard for me to keep up with my buffer if I'm just constantly sick.
and the medicine I'm on knocks me out, which makes my output low already.

I just wanted to know if there was anyone else here that had similar problems where their disability hindered their comics and how do you deal with that?

[BoomerZ]

This is a simple one. Just let your audience know what's going on. Instead of a comic update, just post a single picture and an explanation of the slowdown. The audience just wants feedback and information. You giving them that information and updates to the situation at hand will satisfy this. It's disappearing with no explanation that they don't want.

[NickRowler]

I deal with a chronic illness so I do understand how you feel.

I will say, only share as much as you want to share about your situation, your audience is not entitled to what happens in your personal life. You can mention that you are working at your own pace and you are dealing with stuff that may keep updates slow. I sometime put heads up in my author comments about possible delays.

If you are in a situation where things get really bad, there is nothing wrong with just going silent or "disappearing with no explanation". Because stuff happens and sometimes it's not really other people's business. You can make a post coming back apologizing for your absence. If your readers respect you as a person, then they should not be angry at you.

Don't work to the point where you end up making your health worse, take breaks, and I wish you luck.

[Kura]

Yes, all the time.

I have a lot of physical disabilities from chronic illness, and my meds (or changing of meds) constantly get in the way of comic work.

I usually let the readers know if I have to take a break or if things are getting bad and effecting the updates in the episode description under the episode.. They are usually very understanding, and can often be very supportive which can help a lot when you're trying to recover. I don't have to go deep into detail if I don't want to (some updates I'll be more open to talk than others) but at this point my readers understand that I have limitations and disabilities hindering me.

As for the work involved, I'm still very bad at overdoing it, but I still try to pace myself better, stop working when it's to much and take breaks when I need it and do my best not to feel bad about any of it.

[GumshoeComix]

@BoomerZ I like that idea of drawing a picture to let them know what's going on, they'll notice that a lot more than me saying it in the description.
Though I hope I won't be out too long where I use up all my backlog, I just caught back up.

@NickRowler I don't worry about talking about my epilepsy, it's just the constant of it messing up my comic I worry will sound like excuses to some people after a while

@Kura I feel you so hard on the meds bit :c

[NickRowler]

it's just the constant of it messing up my comic

Are you talking about having issues with working on your comic due to worrying about triggers? I don't have epilepsy but I get really bad vertigo from strobe lights. You could try to adjust your settings so your screen is not too bright, always work in a well lit room, and work against a grey background color, instead of white. That is some of the stuff I do, I know what I have isn't exactly the same but it might help IDK.

[GumshoeComix]

@NickRowler
ah maybe I should've clarified, it's not the triggers but the symptoms like constant fatigue and dizziness. I have to sleep at least 10 hours because my medicine knocks me out and if I don't it's incredibly hard to function but it's also hard to sleep cause I have nighttime seizures. (triggered mostly from exhaustion and stress)

I also have the brightness on my screen set to 30% or lower or I get headaches. And I try to draw against an off-white bg unless the scene calls for Black and white

And the amount of doctor's appointments I go to for this, really hinders how much energy I have to draw and how much time I have to draw. if that makes sense

[MeltingCORE]

I empathize with you greatly. When I was in high school, I would disappear for months because of hospital stays. I agree with the others that taking it easy and letting your audience know (if you're comfortable) is the best course of action. But please also remember you don't owe anyone an entire novel on your life and health problems!

Your health is important and you won't be able to create if you overdo it!

[GumshoeComix]

Made this for when I leave, I hope it gets the point across

[system]

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