That's a great response. Hope you don't mind if I use that XD
When I failed a job interview at a very new (and small) local games company, the feedback I got from someone I knew working there was that my illustration work needed to be at the level of Granblue Fantasy, and that it's much harder for women to get jobs at a games company so I had to work much harder.
Well, I felt worthless after that, and I was depressed for a couple of months. I got out of it when I posted an episode of my comic and was reminded that people do appreciate my work despite its flaws.
I'm pretty saddened by how many similar experiences many of you have had, but I'm glad to know that all of you have kept creating anyway! (Spite can make for an excellent motivator.)
I wouldn't call this the MOST demotivating experience I've ever had, but this is the first one that jumps into memory.
Some years ago, friend found out through another friend that I was writing a book. I wasn't all that interested in sharing the details with him, as he could be pretty opinionated and harsh about pretty much everything.
"So, can you tell me what it's about?"
"Just some fantasy and sci-fi stuff. You probably wouldn't be interested."
"Oh come on, talk to me about it."
"Eh, I'd rather not right now."
"Oh, well how about I talk about a book that I've been reading, and then you tell me about yours."
"Whatever."
He proceeded to spend about 45 minutes (I kept checking the clock, actually) talking about this extremely depressing novel he was reading (A Little Life, specifically), before then asking me to talk about my work again.
I got about two sentences in before he suggested that I find an editor and promptly changed the subject.
I was mostly angry at how rude the whole exchange was, but it was also a bit of a hit to my self confidence when I was already struggling and feeling pretty bad about my work at the time.
In response to the other reader's negative review about my story, someone wrote: "What did I tell you? Don't ever open a sci-fi book written by a woman!"
I'm okay at brushing off when people say critical or discouraging things to me about my own work, but for some reason when people talk a lot of shit about their creative peers it really gets to me.
The kind of ppl that get really gleeful about tearing other works apart...I just get really uncomfortable around that vibe, and it really fucks with me. I guess it's cuz it reminds me that people can be super nice to your face and secretly trash you just for fun. I always have to take a bit of time to recover after encountering something like that.
That one time when I started drawing again and told my friend I would one day draw as well as my favourite artist. To which, she looked me dead in the eye and said, her tone doubtful, "Are you sure? They're really good."
I quit drawing for months after that. But now I'm back to practising again because I've concluded that my skills don't depend on her expectations. I mean, I'd felt the same way about writing once, but I love drawing and writing too much, and paired with my competitive ass, it's hard to just give up. The only way I would would be because I'm lazy.
Thing is, the more demotivating something is to me, the more motivating it becomes later on. I'm an insecure little shit, sure, but I'm also very prideful. Yeah, I'll be wrecked for days, then at some point, I just get all riled up and ready to prove them wrong.
And if they don't care, well, there's always someone else to impress.
When I quoted a price to a potential client and they said the work was not worth it. (they said after it something like, keep practicing like some "encouragement")
I am already not charging enough, I make below minimum wage, but I guess it is still too much? sigh
Because it's "childish", I think most people think anything that's fun most of the time, is childish. :I It's dumb really.
when you try out a different thing/out of your comfort zone and your friend says "that's cringe. no offense."
Idk how that's supposed to be not offensive but then this is the same friend who openly says she envies me and her other friends/classmates who draws in digital a llot :shrug:. Still hurts to think so I stick with my comfort zone or just don't show it to her.
So I was reading out loud a battle scene I wrote and the person who I read it to said it didn't hook them and that all the deaths were disgusting.
I love this person, they're really close to me, so the word disgusting really hit me bad. I laughed and said "it should be, it's a battle scene" but it really hurt.
A few years ago i did a re-draw challenge. So I drew a picture in 2011 that I decided to re-draw in 2013.
I was told that I had made no progress and that I should stop drawing altogether. I was very sad and mad at that time. But look at me now, I never stopped drawing, and I'd say I have gotten much better since way back then 
.
Still an unacceptable thing to say to a young, aspiring artist who just loves to draw, in my opinion. But life is full of A-Holes 
!
I've had multiple publishers explicitly say they're interested in pitches or samples, put in tons of work to make bespoke samples to their specifications, then had them do one out of: Never responding, Responding to tell me to send it to somebody else who doesn't repond, not responding and then a year or more later being like "whoopsie, we lost our slush pile to a clerical error!", saying "Ah sorry, we got you to do this but decided instead of an artist we're going to use a cheaper option", saying that they WERE taking pitches, but now they're not, saying "Ah, we want pitches, but not manga style" (wtf why did you even ask a manga-influenced artist to pitch then!?).
Every time, it's like "Oh come ON!"
isn't that usually the other way? peaple realise they can't draw and move to novels...
was probably just trolling, but i really miss a dislike button on tapas.
the “dislike” button is people minding their business and finding another series to read instead, and leaving the creator alone ;D
i really think downvotes/dislike buttons serve no purpose other than to be abused, hah. i feel the same about the rating system on webtoon. take likes and subscribers into account when judging how good a story is. while some good stories do slip through the cracks, it’s generally a good indicator of quality.
also i promise most creators would rather you just unsub and move on without telling you why they’re going, as evidenced by this threads existence. 
if there is a like button, there should also be a dislike button. just because you can't cope with criticism, doesn't mean we should get rid of all negative expression. it works well on sites like youtube or 9gag.
Comics are not being seen on these sites as it is. Being constantly downvoted is really not good for anyone. Sure, the series can be bad, but at least people either won't read it or write you what is wrong with your series, not simply smash dislike.
People on 9gag are not original content creators, they have zero personal attachment to what they put on this site.