Starting Two Comics? Good Idea or Bad?

[idamessygirl]

Hello!

I started a comic. But, I have so many ideas, I don't just want to work on one story, I want to work on multiple! But I'm not sure if that's a good idea. If there's any authors out there that are working on two or more comics, could you possibly tell me if it's simple to work balance on two comics at the same time? Do you think it's a good idea for one person to start two comics in one go?

I already have the ending and plot down for the comic I'm working on now. Should I should start a new one? Or wait until I'm in the middle of my current comic, or wait until I finish it?

Thankies,
~Idamessygirl ♥

[AnnaLandin]

I work on one big, ongoing comic and then a bunch of projects on the side - illustrations, one-shot comics and (right now) a pitch for a graphic novel. I'm able to do it because I'm a hermit and a workaholic, and have been drawing comics for well over a decade, so I work pretty fast - but it does sometimes get to be a bit too much, and it's easy to get stuck in feeling anxious about not finishing stuff on time.

If this comic you've just started is your first comic, and you don't have a lot of practise or routine in posting a regular webcomic yet, I suggest you focus on one comic for now, until you get used to it and know how much time it takes to make a page, what it feels like to keep up with updating regularly, etc., etc. Once you know how much one comic demands of you, you might be able to do two at the same time.

In the meantime, scribble those ideas down in a notebook or something, and they'll still be there when you know how you want to deal with them!

[phen]

Hey hey!

First, this is really exciting to hear -- you've got a comic going and you already have lots of ideas for another. It's awesome beginning comic projects, yeah? And Mono-Chrome has a really nice start, solid character designs and a nice, organic art style!

I have two comics going myself -- one started about 2 months after I began uploading the first. Both of them had decent buffers of about 20 pages each. I set a schedule for them (uploading twice a week 1 page each for the first and once a week with 3 pages each for the second) and it went very nicely for me. It's refreshing to bounce between two worlds, two different stories! The only difficulty I had was maintaining the buffers -- I've run out recently and I'm not so prepared with the newer comic to feel comfortable running without one. I'm taking a little break with it to build it up again!

So, my advice would be to see if you can maintain your current comic's schedule a little longer and slowly, on the side, build a buffer for your new comic! The process is much more fun when you aren't stressing over keeping up with two comics. ^^v

[joannekwan]

Yes, start with one where you update it consistently for at least two months. Then you get an idea of how much time/effort it will take from you. Besides, you can save the spare time to develop your second story even more and make sure the idea's solid before you draw it.

Speaking from a personal level, it also helps if the other series is entirely different in tone and or style so things stay fresh creatively for you. I currently have 2 major on-going series right now and I like bouncing between the two. I had three but I completed the other one a few weeks ago. (Though technically I still have 3, but the newest one will be very short relatively speaking.)

[69Michi]

I would say it all depends on your capability. Like others said, try with 1 first and see how well you handle it. It's never a good idea to force yourself juggling so many comics at the same time. Honestly it took all my effort to keep a weekly update an episode a week for my current series (along side with real life work, commission work, etc) T_T I can't even handle the idea of having a second on-going series...

[Mharz]

Take it from @dracoplato whose juggling 4 series all at once! Anyway, if you have lots of time and you don't have like a day job or other stuffs you necessarily need to focus on then I think you can focus on two series. All you need is proper scheduling and time management.

The best suggestion I could give is not to release the comic immediately and simultaneously. Build your buffer first (2-3 months worth is good enough) before you start publishing to the public. That way, you can focus on other stuffs while these pages are on queue. (I don't know if my explanation made sense). Before I started publishing The Angel with Black Wings here on Tap, I literally drew the entire first volume. That's a total of 135 pages so I have like one-year worth of buffer (no joke). So in case I can't draw any comics because of work stuffs or any emergency, I won't go into any hiatus. I'm actually surprised that I managed to maintain this one-year buffer myself. Keeping that in mind, I have enough time to work on a second webcomic, a 77-page one-shot comic that I plan to upload here on Tap this July on one page per week basis and plot the 3rd volume and increase The Angel with Black Wings buffer even further.

[sarrowsmith10]

I work on 3 comic projects. 2 of them are published and 1 of them is paid, but not printed yet. I also work a full time job and come home and have responsibilities as a mom. So, its certainly doable to take on a work load like that.

With that said, I would say, don't do it. Especially if your first comic is long form. Get into a groove, prove to readers you can commit to getting a project well on its feet before loosing interest and starting on something else. Then when you have a good idea of what you can handle, then take on the extra stories.

Also, keep in mind the more stories you have, the more you will be splitting your audience and redirecting their attention from one comic to another. o_o

[Iaikaa]

I'm one of those people who absolutely cannot work on two comics publicly at the same time. As a teenager I used to have as many as 4 different projects at a time and each of them got like 20 pages before dying out. Now that I keep myself from launching another comic I have the time and energy to focus properly on the one that I am sharing here.

What I've realized works for me as the chance for something else than my main comic is just working on the concepts and storyboards for my other stories. When I'm stuck I just take on a different story in the planning stage and magically I get inspired to work on the first one again.

As a reader I tend to be a weee bit skeptical with authors who want to run several comics at once. Sometimes it ends up being the one I liked the most that gets the least amount of attention from the creator and to me that is kinda worse than not even having said story out there in the first place.

[dylankeefer1]

I have always been a writer who works on multiple projects. I find the best way to approach this would be to pick one ongoing project. Then work on shorts and other smaller projects to fill your free time and keep you feeling fresh. Then I would say don't release the small works until you have them finished that way you don't feel pressured into working on the smaller project more than you can. Another option is to do two ongoing comics maybe do one with weekly updates and the other with monthly updates. The third option would be to get the ongoing comic to a point where a break doesn't interrupt flow get to the ending of a story line and go on hiatus while you freshen up on a new work. The last option would be to just do multiple ongoing comics starting out from what I can tell getting an audience is hard and slow just work on what you want and if one of the comics starts taking off and growing a readership focus on that project.

My comics
Vigilance
Drakon Forge
Grey Lines
Vengeance Born

[idamessygirl]

Thank you so very much to everyone who have taken their time to write down advice! I think for now, I won't start another comic until after I'm almost finished with the comic I am currently on (I'll buffer my next comic for awhile). Thank you so much for all the advice. ^__^

[shaneoid77]

Sorry if someone else has mentioned this, but I think it's a great idea, as doing one thing can become tedious so it's good to have that outlet in something else so you can catch a break. I'm doing two comics now, just launched Go-Bee this month and as you can see it's not as complicated as my main comic but it'll be great when I need to get out of the zone for my other one, it's a practice I'd recommend to anyone (with enough time to spare!)

[shaylafarley5]

I started with 2 comics now I only focus on one. So unless you have a lot of free time and help I think it's best to start with one.
Don't get me wrong though I'm also working on 2 more along with my main one. But you don't want to burn yourself out by publishing 2 or more comics at the same time.

[ToonDoctor]

I would suggest working on only one project at a time, or stopping one for a while to focus on a second one. It's easy as creators to have new ideas. We all have thousands of ideas that would be cool as comics. But it takes more work to dedicate, focus and craft one solid project and ignore everything else. As you are beginning to do regular comics, it is crucial that you learn to manage your time effectively and to be energized creatively. Two projects will split your available time and your creative energy.

[haileymorrisonbooks]

Doo it!! I've been doing one comic for a year, but I've gotten really restless with just doing one story when I have some many other ideas! I've just started another comic a couple of months ago (after careful planning), and I'm planning to start a third one in a few years. If you feel you can do it, do it! (I always find it refreshing, anyways to switch into different characters' worlds every so often. :3)

[SpavVy]

If you think you can pull off working on more than one comic and have the free time then go for it! I'm one of those people who cannot work on two comics at the same time, I'd just end up burning myself out. I envy those people who can work on more than one project.

[shazzbaa]

I just wanna mention like, you can write and draw two comics at the same time without posting two comics at the same time. If you think it might be good for your brain have another creative outlet to keep you fresh, but you're not sure if it'll be too overwhelming....... you can always try working on a second comic without posting it online! Then there's no "promise of updates" involved -- if it DOES turn out to be too overwhelming, you just stop making pages of the second comic, or work more slowly on the second comic.

[StevenDacasin]

I have my main story Simon Nero and the prequel story. What I do is update simon nero one week and the prequel story the next week and repeat. I think you should stay with updating mono-chrome only first and then when it's about to end then you can start your new stories.

[indagold]

yeah I did that once... ended up putting my comics on hiatus and lose fans. Figured out that you have to be a little bit aware of what your limits are. Now I can work on multiple comics at a time without posting them so no worries about hiatus. It depends, it's a bad idea unless you can figure it out.