Not wanting to do a comic anymore

[nightwingwife]

Not sure where to put this at, but I have a comic called Custody. It's a revamp of my old comic, "Special" Care. I drew it for a year or so until I asked for a review. Let's say that my comic wasn't too good at the time and I thought it was true. Every time I re-read the story, I cringe because it's bad. So, I thought, "Hey, let me make a revamp of this and make it better." I did that, I been writing the story for at least 3 years I think. And I wanted to reach to a point where I start the comic already, which I did. And I was hyped to get started on it. After writing the story for so long, I finally get to do it. And right now, I'm just like, "Ugh, I kinda don't wanna do this now..."

I don't know, maybe it's because I wanna try to make the comic better by making it look good. Or maybe I waited too long? I did remember having fun doing this comic, but now it's just....kinda whatever. Maybe I was younger and didn't really care on how it's gonna look like. Now, I'm all like, "GOTTA MAKE THIS HALF DECENT!" I also wanna do this story that I been wanting to do in my mind since forever, I really want to focus on that though because that's more exciting to me as of right now.

So, I'm not sure what to do. I wanna keep going because I did all that work and I don't wanna waste that. Plus, I just started. But, I wanna do other ideas as well like the one I mentioned and I'm not having much as fun than before.

[shatterjure]

take a break.
take a break then continue when you re-find the inspiration to contunue.

[ToonDoctor]

Doesn't matter if it's not perfect. The only way to get better is to do something.

[Potoh]

I'm with shatterjure. Take a break. Do what you enjoy the most at the moment. You certainley don't waste anyhing by doing so, because in the process of making your comic you probably learned a lot and gained experience.
And you say you have another story which you'd like to work on - do that instead! Make sketches, look for inspiration, just draw for fun!
Believe me, the fun won't come back by forcing it. I made 2 very poor attempts of my comic (because I was impatient and didn't wanted to wait anymore with publishing). Until I finally learned that sometimes the better option is to let it go for a while and get back to the basics, like character sketches, creature design or something completley different. That can be really helpful and refreshing, instead of the constant pressure of wanting to do something "great".
Hope that makes sense^^

[Michelle]

What you're describing sounds a lot like sunk cost fallacy, which is basically "I spent so much time and effort on this, I NEED to make it work!" But really, you don't. It's okay to walk away from a project that just isn't appealing anymore.

That's great that you devoted a lot of time and energy to figuring out your project, but if you're heart's not in it anymore, there's no sense in forcing it. Take what you learned from developing this project, and apply it to something you actually want to create.

Try working on a project you can get started on within 6 months, instead of 3 years, and you're more likely to still want to do it. A lot can change in 3 years, including the kind of stories you're interested in telling.
The story I wanted to tell with my comic when it was in its super early stages is nothing like the story I ended up with. Even when I was tightening up my first chapter's script, I had realizations on what kind of story I wanted to tell. If I'd handcuffed myself to the first version of the story and tried to make it work, I would have felt a lot like you're feeling and would have probably ditched the comic in frustration.

[JJunkoAn]

Yes...take a break...do what you feel like doing...it's a learning process...I have a few other comics that I had started, but I went on to work on different stories...The story I am working on right now is about....gosh...I don't know how old...probably 7 or 8 years old. I had the idea all those years back and added more to it over the years little by little, but I never really sat down and ground out all the details until last year because I had another story I was working on...but I guess I got a sort of writers block or lost my inspiration for that other story...so I switched over to my current story...And I finished the first book!...Now I'm writing the second one...And one day I know I'll go back to that other story and finish it. But...then again...I am really talking about writing a story not really about drawing it out in comic/manga form....because that is a tad bit different...But anyways...like most people here are suggesting...take a break! Find your inspiration...who knows, you might find a way to make your story even better after taking a break from it!

[Puppisama]

Probably you are thinking too much in "I want this to be great" instead of thinking if you are comfortable working with it, I also wasted a lot of time thinking in an epic manga I never did because I wanted to make it so epic in the end it ended epicly forgotten, if you feel there is something wrong with the comic, find the way to make it better but also comfortable for you. Keep your feelings simple, you might have work with that comic 3 years, but right now working on it doesnt make you feel good, take a break from it, or try to change it until you feel better with it. Work with what you like, don't feel pushed to do something if it doesnt convince you anymore, even if you spent 3 years with it.

[shazzbaa]

Seconding EVERYTHING @Michelle said!

The planning and work that you did isn't wasted if you decide to leave this project behind and pursue something you're passionate about. That kind of work teaches you a lot. In the process of putting together a story and getting it ready to turn into a comic, starting to turn it into a comic, you've probably learned a ton about how you work and what methods work for you and what methods burn you out. You've learned some of the pitfalls of constructing a story and how to avoid them and how to make a story better. None of that is a waste if you put all that knowledge to work on something new!!

Through 2 years of college I poured myself into this story called Made Forest that I was very passionate about turning into a comic. I was sure it was going to be the story I worked on for my final project and submitted to publishers. But by the time I'd hit my Junior year, Made Forest wasn't really a story that reflected me anymore -- I still was convinced I wanted to create it, but I was way more interested in these new characters I had invented on a whim. Those characters became Runewriters, my first story-based comic, which couldn't possibly have been as coherent as it is without all of the lessons I learned working on Made Forest.
But Made Forest is on the backburner. Maybe I'll make it some day; maybe I never will. And that's okay!

ALL THAT SAID,
I'm not gonna say that leaving this project behind and working on something new is absolutely the right answer. I don't and can't know you well enough to say for sure. And it's true that comics aren't always fun; every cartoonist has had times they weren't feelin' it and had to push through that feeling. But comics are a big commitment, and you don't want to commit to something you're only half-way invested in. Imo, while you're making the decision, you need to allow yourself the option of leaving this story behind if it's truly not what you want to do, and to know that it wouldn't be a bad option, and it wouldn't be a waste.

[Heck]

It's burn-out fam :[

So sometimes I'll get burn-out if my brain is focused on one thing for too long. For example, Sims2. I fucking love Sims2. But I'll play it for a solid 16 hours, get bored, and then put it down for 4 months. This happens with creative processes too. Writers and artists know what this feels like. The only thing you can do is go do something else for a little while until you find that spark of motivation again. Your brain can't be an idea machine all the time, so sometimes it needs a vacation. This os why it's good to have multiple projects, so you can switch between one or the other when you need a break. There's sciencey reasons behind this too, but that's boring.

[iddqd]

Taking a break and drawing something else, something you enjoy, is a great way to recharge your batteries (I am doing this right now, in fact). If you get back to it and realize you don't want to do your project anymore, well... there is something to be said for finishing what you started, even if you don't enjoy it as much anymore. If you have 12 pages till the end of the project, maybe it's worth it to power through and have something flawed but finished under your belt. If it's 120 pages till completion, well... maybe it's better to cut your losses and move on.

[Shanny8]

There is nothing that says that you HAVE TO do that story- do the other story that you want to do right now- and if you feel like you want to come back the 1st story, you can.

[Jrej]

It's not something we are paid to do. So let it be fun!

Don't put too much pressure on yourself. I doesn't have to be perfect, It just has to be.

And if you're not feeling this story or comic. No problem. Work on something else.
Try shorter projects. Nothing beats finishing something.
You can start building confidence from there.

[shaneoid77]

Remember, when you think your ideas are bad...

[jayorten]

Follow your heart. An artist always follows their heart. You don't feel like doing it, then don't! That's what happened with my comic FezBoy. At first I was really pumped to do it, but eventually it began to feel more like a chore. It really wore me down. I decided to go on hiatus, after which I revived the series as a choose-your-own adventure comic. I'll probably never do another episode of the old FezBoy, but that's okay because now I enjoy doing the new comic. Don't become discouraged if it feels like your art and ideas seem out of place. Give it time. It takes an artist a while before they find something they're happy with.

[spooktacularprize]

I know what you mean; even my earlier pages for my current webcomic don't look as good as my current ones. If it's mostly art you're worried about, it's amazing how much you can improve by just drawing the comic; later pages will inevitably look better; as will revamps!