Thoughts on hiatuses

1. I'm not currently keeping up with any webcomics so I can't really speak to whether not I'd drop a project. But if I had to say, Id say no since there's a comic I'm still subbed to, and will go back to reading when I'm up to it, that hasn't post in several months.

2. I go on regular months long hiatuses as a creator and it's due to two reasons. 1) When I first started, I didn't have a substantial buffer, maybe about two weeks and I just started my sophomore year of college. I overestimated myself. 2) I just plain get bored and feel the need to work on other things, especially after completing a batch of pages and uploading them. I wouldn't say I've ever "abandoned" my main project, maybe that time I worked on something else for the call to action contest. But other than that, if I'm not uploading pages, I'm usually making pages.

3. I guess burnout. Like I mentioned, after working on and then uploading episodes, I just want to work on other things.

4. When ever you want. I have courtesy to send out monthly updates to my readers when I'm on hiatus so they know what's going on with the comic. But even if I didn't, I should be fine to take off time when I feel the need to regardlessof the reason, though I do understand how that can be frustrating for readers. But I make my comic in my free time and I don't have a lot of that during the week.

As a reader, I typically keep the bookmark for the series. If it's a series I really liked, I'll still go back and re-read it occasionally, even if the author has stated they will not rfinish it.

Going on Hiatus has definitely helped renew my excitement for my comic. I posted the last page in 2021 after a series of hiatuses in between. I took a step back to check the script, and realized I didn't like where the focus was (nowhere?), so I've been pruning off a few plot points and trying to focus on the important themes. Can you tell I wasn't a strong writer when I started this project? But I've learned so much while I've been away

Aside from the writing issues in my comic, I was suffering from burnout from my day job and other personal life stuff. I knew I couldn't just jump back into page-making so I really focused on improving my story writing as a craft.

I think it's important to take breaks if you feel the need. whether for personal reasons, art reasons, writing, etc. It's ok as long as you take care of yourself

1) As a reader, I accept more a hiatus that has already a come back date, so I can write it down on a calendar. I don't like hiatus that only says "I will come back soon" and then months passes without a news or why is taking so long. Or worse, you discover later that the author decided to don't publish anymore on that platform because reasons (eg. Let's Play on Webtoon).

2-3) I did a 5 year hiatus in the past because I couldn't focus anymore on the story, work was stressful and the shifts were never regular. I come back last year re-drawing from the start and publishing again the story.

4) When I went on hiatus I tried to finish the third chapter, if I have to I'll try to end the chapter or the sequence I'm working on.

As a reader, how does a hiatus impact your engagement, how long does it take for you to loose interest in a project, what is the longest time a project gone on hiatus but you still remained a fan of it?

It doesn't. I only check a series if I get a notification, I have no idea what their upload schedules are Of course I like series I'm subbed to, but I kinda forget about them in-between updates. For me it's like waiting YEARS for next book volume or a tv show season. I recall two series here on tapas that I really liked and that recently came back, one had their last episode before the hiatus in October 2020. I'm not sure about the other one as some episodes where deleted and reuploaded, but it's been years.

As a creator has going on hiatus renewed your excitement with a project or gotten you to abandon it,? What is the longest time you have abandoned a project before coming back to it?

For me it's been 3 years. At first I thought it would be just a short hiatus, then I thought I would never return to drawing my project, and then after some time I started missing drawing comics. But it was actually thanks to my friends that I returned to it, as they read the story and were VERY enthusiastic about it. Basically I decided to finish it for them, but after re-reading it myself I regained the love for that story

If you have gone on hiatus what has caused it? Burnout, or personal life? How has this impacted the project?

I had some issues in personal life and also was stressed with my job. The stress and being tired accumulated and slowly spread onto my hobbies, making me question my story, art skills, what am I doing with my life and so on

When should you go on hiatus? Should you go on hiatus at all?

If you feel tired and feel like you need a break, you should get a break. And it's better to take the break early than trying to power through it, because the burnout my be really bad if you keep overworking yourself.

1. How long it takes me to lose interest in a project depends heavily on how invested in it I was in the first place. If I'm casually reading something that I'm only sort of interested in, and it goes on hiatus suddenly with no projected return date (or even is just incredibly inconsistent with updates), I'll probably give up on it. On the flip side, there are a few comics that I suspect are just straight-up dead (one hasn't updated in almost a year, and another has been closer to 6 years) that I keep in my subscribed folder because I really WANT them to come back.

2. I'm the sort of creator that does something obsessively, sometimes for years, before my steam runs out and the obsession burns off. I've learned the hard way that the only way for me to keep working on a project that no longer has the driving force of an obsession behind it is to have a plan/script/etc so I don't have to rely on inspiration, and to keep my momentum going. If I take a hiatus to deal with burnout, I'm much less likely to come back to it with more energy.

3. I don't use hiatuses to deal with burnouts or personal life issues at all -- that's what my massive page buffer is for. Before I started posting, I drew 30 whole pages, so that if something happened that prevented me from drawing for a while (broke my hand, moved, got Covid, death in the family, etc), I had almost five months worth of pages already drawn so there wouldn't be a gap in the momentum. I am currently on hiatus on my comic, but it's a chapter break, not a leave of absence in the middle of the story, and I'm actually using it to build my buffer back up and iron out some stuff for chapter 2 before I start posting new pages in April. On top of that, I'm not actually gone-- I'm posting filler and lore drops and stuff on my regular schedule so people don't forget my comic exists.

4. As far as when or if someone should go I hiatus? If you need to take a break for reasons, you should. Burnout/RSI's benefit nobody. But I'm a firm believer in building yourself a big fat buffer as a fallback, and planning chapter breaks that feel deliberate, and that have a set time frame to them, if at all possible. Less disruption for your readers, and less guilt for you, the creator, for leaving your readers waiting.

Disclaimer: I'm aware that my methods don't/won't work for everyone. I don't have ADHD, or any known mental health issues that would make working consistently to a deadline harder, I am not in school, I don't have kids, and I work part time, so I have plenty of free time to make/keep up with a substantial page buffer.

However, planning my project out ahead of time, doing LOTS of work up front so I have the grace to take breaks when I need them without disrupting the schedule, and maintaining my page buffer during planned chapter breaks is serving me well so far, so that's what's been working for me.

Some may consider this unprofessional (I guess it is, like, literally) but I firmly believe that, at the end of the day, you don't owe anyone even the smallest amount of misery if you're performing a service for free.

Like, when I really don't want to draw a commission, even if I'm super tired and I'd rather be stabbed through the eye, I still power through, because someone else gave up something of value (i.e. money) with the expectation that I would deliver something on a certain date. It's a transaction-- they gave something to me, so I have to give something back to them.

Comics, however, I've always drawn completely for free. Often I don't even get comments, let alone engagement or money. So if I find I no longer enjoy working on a series or want some time away from it...there's no sense of reciprocal responsibility that might make me 'power through' anyway. No one's giving anything to me; why do I have to give something to them? As they say, "if it sucks, hit da bricks".

That was essentially the reasoning behind DotPQ's year-long hiatus, and even now that I've brought it back it's been 4 months since the last update. ^^; Although people barely even seemed to care when it came back from its normal, properly scheduled hiatus between Season 1 and 2, so it's hard to feel guilty. I remember working all night to try to get Season 2's first episode out on time...little did I know, Season 1's momentum was already gone for good, and it would all be for nothing. =T

I've put things on hiatus for any number of reasons, even if it's as simple as "I got other things to do". And I think all those reasons, or any reason, is valid. It's your life and your time, you shouldn't need the approval of strangers to use it how you want.

Generally this doesn't impact my projects any more than the whims of fate, as I explained above...at least, externally. Internally, it usually just gives me time to think about the project outside of other people's influence: how I truly feel about it, how I might want to improve it, or whether I think it really needs to continue.

That's when I think a hiatus is most valuable, when you take that time not only to rest, but to prepare yourself to change something after that rest period ends. If it wasn't for that one-year hiatus, I wouldn't have taken the time to refocus on my animation and video editing skills, and I wouldn't be currently enjoying methods of storytelling that other people actually seem to be interested in. ^^ RIP to my 1.5 webcomic readers, I guess, but I'm having fun creating again, and in the end that's all that matters.

I personally treat my comic the same way I treat the games I publish. It is my product. My name is attached to it (even if just a pen name) and if I fuck up and come off as unprofessional, or just screw up enough to upset my buyers/followers/whatever, that's it. That's my name down the drain. That sort of thing is a big deal to me because it will have a big impact on my future using said name.

So I disagree with a lot of opinions here, but then that's probably because to me, it isn't a hobby. It's a product I'm invested in and will treat professionally with the intention to BE a professional and be seen as one in the future. However, everyone differs, and that's why this sort of thread is hard to get a solid answer from. Whatever YOU see your work as, is what matters. How important it is to you, how serious you are about it, how important your name as an author is, etc., all of these are personal. Nobody can give you the real answer to your questions because everyone is different.

What breaks I take when I am being paid, really depend on who's paying me. If I'm on contract with a platform or publisher, I'm taking breaks when they aant me to. If I'm being support by readers, then I probably have the flexibility to have most of may time be taken up by comic creation, therefore allowing me to produce more content.

And here's the thing about whether or not this is seen as a hobby or a product. I personally don't see my comic as just a hobby product, I do want to go further with it: get it popular and produce a lot of content surrounding it. But this is the first major project I've stuck with for an extended period of time. There was a lot of things I didn't know when I started that I'm having to make up for now. But more importantly, I'm not getting paid to do this, not by my readers, not by anybody. I gotta eat, don't I? So I'm kinda stuck doing hobby amounts of work on top of having a mind that has me hopping project to project and is easily distracted. Also, I have all this anxiety surrounding working on any artistic endeavors. But that's just me.

Praise be to others with full time jobs and are still producing regular content. Your followers are blessed.

1. As a reader, I'm willing to wait for hiatuses unless the author mentions when they'll be back. I also don't lose interest if they make a season hiatus (as in to prepare for a new season). If you take a break in random episodes and are absent for more than a year, Unfortunately, I'll most likely forget the story ever existed.

2. As a creator, whenever I felt like taking a break from an ongoing story, I lost my motivation to return most of the time. Especially when I realized my art style had changed over time or I lost the working flow. So, I try not to take hiatus longer than 3 days.

3. I only take hiatus because I got family vacation plans. If I'm burned out, I usually don't take any breaks because I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my working flow.

4. If you feel extreme burnout, you should definitely take a hiatus. It's hard to be an artist/author, but you shouldn't get injured from it.

Being a binger, hiatuses have absolutely 0 effect on my interest in a series since I wait for enough episodes to accumulate before I read the next chunk, regardless of if it takes 2 months or 2 years. Effectively, the creator is always on hiatus for me because it's always at least a few months before I get to read more of their stuff Whenever I lose interest in a series, it's never because of a hiatus XD

As a very casual creator, I've always just uploaded whenever I want so the concept of 'hiatus' doesn't even really apply to me? :'D I'm not sure what you should do if you're being paid though, so it's not something I'd ever want for myself because I'm terrified of obligation I do intend to go further with my work; get it popular, produce a lot of content surrounding it etc though; I just have plans to do so that doesn't involve me, personally, getting paid so I'd have no obligation to do things on time XD

By sheer coincidence, I just went on hiatus. sweats nervously

I'm taking a break from uploading while I draw the next chapter, since I like to work in chapter-sized chunks anyway (script and layouts are already done). Idk, I have real work and life commitments, and nobody's paying me to make my comic, much as I might enjoy making it. So I don't feel bad about taking my time.

My only thought is if you go on hiatus, give the reader the respect to give a returning date and stick to it. If you take a month off, do an announcement of the date you'll return. Give them something to look forward to. If it's longer than a month, I would even do some updates to keep your work in mind.

Personally I think missing a month is okay, common even. I'll keep checking for up to a year because i'm a huge dumbo who doesn't like to give up on things I like. I think you might stand to lose people when no one knows whether to expect a month, a week, or half a year. Might just be important to give ample notice and fill people in on what's going on, people are pretty forgiving.

I went on one fake hiatus for a few weeks, and I say fake because it was just a massive editing job. In the past it was horribly off and on and it blows me away there would be even one person who remembered my work even existed.
Long breaks in comics made for free and for fun are pretty normal, but you can't expect to keep an audience if they don't know if it'll ever come back one day.

I had a pretty sizable audience at one point in time, but there was no way in hell I could work on a regular schedule. There was a pretty big gap where nothing new was made, and by the time I had a brand new chapter ready I posted it and got no response at all- and I mean 0. I was used to getting all kinds of engagement up to that point. Now, part of that had a bit to do with the site itself, but I have to assume dropping off the face of the earth for longer than a year might've had something to do with it.

From the reader pov, I like it when hiatus are predicable and it is nice when authors have a built-in schedule for a break rather than a sudden announcement. I understand that is not always possible, but in those cases it is best to be open about it to the readers.
Also for me, it can be hard to get back into reading something when I do not know if the next update will be for a month or a year or such.

Honestly... if the artist is near mental breakdown from the pressure it's only natural that they are gonna take a break from what they've been doing if they don't wanna completely ruin themselves. We all have it when we burnout really badly and taking hiatus makes sense. We're no robots who just work and don't need any breaks.

If you have really decicated readers they're going to wait for you because health goes first. Those people who only read and don't care might leave of course. I saw many readers of series waiting for months or even a year and saw desperate comments if the series will ever continue or not. From my perspective as an author I think that's loyalty beyond belief but on the other hand I feel bad for the reader waiting as the artists something completely drop the series without a notice.

Ahhahaha this sentence just made me even more inordinately happy about putting my stuff in the public domain; I never have to feel bad about unceremoniously dropping the series like a rock because the readers are more than welcome to continue it themselves if they really want to XDDD