Should I give up on collaborations?

[Shanny8]

My suggestion would be to consider easing yourself into the comic writer space rather than trying to jump in with a 15+ Chapter behemoth.

THIS. There have been too many posts/threads with writers facing the same dilemma doing the same thing as listed above. No artist is going to stay on a project that long- especially if it isnt their own.

You might wanna start out with a shorter project.

My interpretation of a "collab" is me going in 50/50 with someone, not me contracting/hiring someone for something.

Upon reading more of this I do agree...you're 17, you have PLENTY of time to learn to draw and get good at it. I've seen plenty of artists do a complete turn around with their skills in a short amount of years- but they also probably sat at least every day working on it at one aspect or another. You have to be willing to put in the time to do it...

I wish I had access to computers and digital art at 17(I only had notebook paper and BIC mechanical pencils )...now I'm XXXX and putting every iota of energy into catching up. Some days it sucks(aint gonna lie); other days it's cool as heck.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

Not really, I dislike novels for many reasons.

You gave a thumbs down to whatever has been suggested. I don't know what else you can do to bring your project to completion anytime soon.
Maybe this is just a bad time? Like a little depression, and things may not be as impossible in the future.

[rajillustration]

You're probably looking for someone to tell you to give up because you're too old and it's too expensive or whatever, but a lot of people on this forum are like in our 30's. 17 years old is an excellent time to start drawing, and ten years go by quicker than you'd think.

As for the cost, publishing is very expensive, there's no way around it. Illustrators cost a lot, which is why standard publishing exists to cover those costs. Self publishing is WAY cheaper than it has been in the past, but it's still going to be a heavy investment, and you'll want to be older before you start making those type of investment decisions. That and like...you don't spend that money all at once--you do it per chapter, per page, over the course of many years. 15 chapters is a lot. (depending on length, too).

My suggestion is...if you don't want to do art but just want to write--write a book. Not everything needs to be a comic, and you can upload art to a webnovel. That way you might only commission like 1 or 2 drawings, and you can do it with other high schooler artists who will be a much more affordable range for you since they are your age, too.

[spiderbrahdfo13]

Maybe. I'm dealing with a lot of failures rn.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

Sorry to hear that... I know it can be overwhelming sometimes & then it feels like everything is doomed. Don't give up, even if you have to put it aside for a while.

[spiderbrahdfo13]

Thanks. I'll revisit everyone's comments tomorrow.

[T4pasBelongsToKaka0]

$22,500 is the cost, I can't cover that

WTF? plenty of artists that would do 4 chapters per month for just 200 dollars a month, that absurd price you're quoting is only for artists living in the first world, I know that because I live in the third world and I see freelancers here asking for 200~250 dollars a month (which is above minimum wage where I live)

[spiderbrahdfo13]

really? I keeping looking for lower prices like that and I couldn't find many that I liked.

[sorible]

This isn't meant to tear you down, just a tough love(?) kind of post.

Maybe art takes decades to get good at so I'm unsure if I want to commit to it

This depends on each person, how hard you are willing to work and how passionate you are about your project. I was a traditional artist, oil and acrylic realism paintings was what I mainly did and I just left the webtoon and anime drawings up to the professionals. Then I decided to start, and I found out how much I actually enjoyed it. I didn't improve much, but I wasn't doing it everyday, so that was a given. But because of covid, I ended up practicing everyday since I didn't have much else to do, and I improved this much:

Summary

And that was within the span of 2 ish years. You're about the same age as my younger brother who said he wants to get into art too but he's worried that he's too old to start. I told him this: If it's something you really want to do, you have to put in the effort and work, not wait around for your art to "improve". Art doesn't get better over time, it gets better with practice. I don't mean to be harsh but you just say, "your drawing skills are bad, they'll never improve." If you keep going with that mindset, you're never going to improve and you won't go anywhere. Have some faith in yourself, if you look at your four year old art vs now, there has to be at least one thing that improved about it.

[sorible]

sorry if I sound a bit aggressive, I just get frustrated when I see people who have potential give up. You never know, maybe in the future you could have a popular webcomic or manga or whatever. Just think of your goals and what you want, and aim for that. That's honestly how I motivated myself.

[T4pasBelongsToKaka0]

really? I keeping looking for lower prices like that and I couldn't find many that I liked.

I'll be honest with you, that was the case until at least early 2020, but with the whole pandemic, I'm not so sure anymore, maybe people are hungry for more money because of uncertain times, idk, good luck tho.

[T4pasBelongsToKaka0]

I just get frustrated when I see people who have potential give up. You never know, maybe in the future you could have a popular webcomic or manga or whatever. Just think of your goals and what you want, and aim for that. That's honestly how I motivated myself.

I know how you feel, pls don't give up Sorible

[liamnaughton7]

Okay, quick question though, if you don't mind me asking. Do you enjoy drawing? Not if you think you're good enough or whether you'll be successful at it but do you like it?

[Puck]

Don´t give up on collaborations.

When you form a team you need to find a common ground which you both love and both
are passionate about everything else will fade out after some time. This is what happened
to you with the artists and that´s why I also wrote to you in the other topic that I only want
to work with a writer who I have that common ground with and it doesn´t make any sense
to try and force yourself to write something you don´t love just to work together with someone.
The same goes for me as an artist, I can´t force myself to love to draw elves and dwarves when
I´m not into it and rather want to draw a funny erotic story playing in the real world (example)

I have been looking for a writer for 5 years now and I don´t give up, rough genre: crazy, european
style, funny, can be adventure, slice of life, erotic and I wrote with a lot of writers about it,
it´s hard to find a partner which fits, it´s hard for both sides.

And about the age thing, I started relearning to draw 6 years ago at the age of 40. I´m drawing
every day and I´m training every day, took me at least 5 years to be able to draw something which
doesn´t look ridiculous. I´m now getting a better grasp of perspective which really helps. I think
I will be good in another 4 years

I tried to learn to write but I´m not passionate about it, so I gave up, it doesn´t make sense to force
yourself when you don´t love it

[DualDragons]

About the age drawing thing, I've started drawing at 18 years and it looked like shit then. And even then I've come a long way.

You could use the forums to ask for feedback when you feel like you aren't progressing. Sometimes it's hard to see how you could improve if you only look at your work yourself.

[spiderbrahdfo13]

Not most of the time, I want to like it so I can get better at it. So I don't have to work with other people but I just hate my own drawings. I'm trying to not dislike it anymore, it's just hard.

[liamnaughton7]

You're far too young to be this anxious about the creative process. Just write. Draw if you want. Show your scripts to anyone wholl take a look. Do short stuff before angsting about some ridiculous magnum opus. And if you're hung up over become a success before a certain age you can forget it. Even if you do hit it big before you're 20 you won't be ready for it and you'll run yourself into an early grave anyway.

[spiderbrahdfo13]

I've been trying to do shorter projects and I've written a lot of them. Artist have just disappeared every time.

[liamnaughton7]

Well the question there is if you can find someone willing to commit to a work when you are both relative strangers and if you had a trick for that kind of thing then youd probably have a very lucrative career as a politician!
You just have to keep putting yourself out there and get used to things not always panning out. Just enjoy the work. And if you feel up to it maybe even drawing a few just for shits and giggles. Youd be surprised how much fun youd have when you aren't putting yourself under pressure to be "good"

[lizardlullabye]

For the collab/partner part, keep trying but be OK if nothing happens because that's not really something you can control. Everyone works differently so it might take a while to someone that fits.

Putting up your shorter works lets the artist see a bit of what they will be working with, so they can decide if they would like to work with you. If artists are typically expected to show their work, it makes sense for a writer to do so too. Check out the "Before Submitting your Collaboration Request" pinned at the top, and try again when you are ready.