Things You Wish You'd Known

[aqua03]

That it's okay to make mistakes and learn as we grow. That it's okay to not be perfect and to love your own art for what it is instead of constantly feeling you need to be better than other artists to have any form of worth.

[Scarlet_Cryptid]

"By producing a full, completed page a week, you will get better faster than you ever thought possible. So plan out your series, do your concept art, write your script, definitely do all that preparing stuff... but you MUST START."

(Seriously though. My style has been stagnant for over a decade, and in the 40-ish pages I've drawn so far, I've seen actual improvement. Or at least, I've been far happier with the most recent 10-or-so pages than I am with the 10-or-so earliest pages.)

[LittleFoodie]

Take a creative writing class, increase your vocabulary, and EASE on the adverb cause oh boy…..

[PapaDom]

"Just because you think it's passable doesn't mean it's good. You should rework it before starting to post."
[grabs shoulders and comes closer]
"You also will become a HUGE masochist."
"Wait. I like getting beaten up?"
"Hahaha. Not that kind of masochist."

[amortelito]

-Just do i!
- Worry less, you will barely get any viewers
-Start with scroll down format, or else you will need a reboot.
-Have fun
- Don't make the series so damn long

[LCT_m_a_d]

As long as you keep making decisions in good spirit you'll be alright eventually.

[Eiranyx]

I'd tell my younger self :
If it scares you, do it" you shouldn't doubt yourself every single time you wanted to start just because you think you aren't enough. Starting doesn't require for you to be good at it already, that's the point of starting.
And I know that like me, if you put your mind into something, you'll always find a way to achieve it eventually. so don't be scared to put yourself out there more. -- it will help you look through opportunities worth pursuing and different possibilities.

[Kuma]

I would beat the crap out of myself. That would teach me.

[Puck]

Drawing: learn perspective and basic shapes before anything else,
don´t waste any time on details.
Do 2 courses: 1) drawabox 2) proko in this order: head, figure, anatomy

Comic production:
Do the 24hours comic day once a year and prepare something every time
to get better at it.
Draw one page a week, doesn´t matter what the page looks like, finish
the page. Ask for critique, make a list what to do better and do the next
page

I wouldn´t have listened to me anyway

[Oto_Kouda]

Don't give up on drawing. I know you wanted to focus more on writing, but you'd be going places if you still had both skills.

[darthmongoose]

When you're making a webcomic, there is simply no point in trying to impress the fancy, pretentious print comics academia. No matter how hard you try, you will never be welcome at their little club. It's OKAY to be self-indulgent and silly, it's FINE to simplify the dialogue so anyone can follow it even if their English isn't great, and in fact that's often way better for getting readers online. There is nothing at all wrong with being "just a silly webcomic".

[Junohugger]

Thumbnail more, don't stress the sub count, always have an exit plan, find joy in other stuff along with the creative endeavours. Go to the dentist.

[doublemelon]

Buy a drawing tablet already. You cant draw properly and efficiently with just a mouse.

[Caro]

Stop suppressing your voice and trying to fit it into something palatable and serious because the more goofy you are the more opportunities you’ll have to work with your favorite publishers! Embrace the goof!

Stop fiddling around with the tablet and be okay with just inking by hand there’s literally nothing wrong with that. Embrace the pen!

Fail faster! If something isn’t working, try something else and revisit the old thing and you’ll probably find that you just didn’t quite have the skills for it yet OR you don’t even like it anymore!. But don’t beat a dead horse for years and years because you’re one million ideas in one person and they’re not all going to be the right fit so work to find which ones ARE faster.

[surenlicious]

That no matter how late your start, you're always in the right place at the right time. Let go of the nonsense that you gotta do this or at as early as possible, your life follows its own thread and you can ALWAYS achieve your goals no matter where you are in life.

[ricardoaltuna]

-Don't try to work in an art style that you don't really know how to pull off just because you think is cool.
-If you want people to read your comic you're gonna have to promote A LOT
-Tracing backgrounds is ok (as long as you took the photos or have rights to use it)
-You can't make 17+ pages a week like japanesse mangakas they have teams of assistants and still have to stay up late in order to meet deadlines. You are just one person so take your time and stay healthy.

And most importantly...

-For fucks sake stop re-writting and re-writting the plot and just START POSTING THE COMIC! It doesn't matter how good a story is if nobody can read it!

[Scarlet_Cryptid]

For fucks sake stop re-writting and re-writting the plot and just START POSTING THE COMIC! It doesn't matter how good a story is if nobody can read it!

Ooo, I wish I'd included this in mine. At some point, 'prep work' becomes 'stalling'. Eventually, you have to actually put something out there.

[ricardoaltuna]

Exactly, sometimes we worry too much about getting things perfect when is more important to get them out there for other people to see it

[BreakingChalk]

Have a decent inventory of chapters before releasing the comic. And do small but consistent updates rather than big and impossible ones.

[cherrystark]

I've definitely had this problem with my writing. I just want things to be "perfect" instead of waiting and practicing.