Tips on how to balance school and comics?

[grilledsoap]

Does anyone have any advice on balancing school work and comics? I am a junior in high school now and it's getting a bit hard to try and balance the two. Since school started my comic has been paused because I don't have time to make episodes or when I do I either have no energy left or I have the wrong computer. What do you guys to to keep them balanced?

My comic: http://tapastic.com/series/Title-Number9

[AnnaLandin]

Well, I don't know what to do about the "wrong computer" issue, but here goes.

1.) Pick an updating-pace that you feel works for you. Once you've settled into the routine of school again (which can take a couple of weeks!), look over what spare time you have, and decide how much of it you're willing to spend working on the comic - and from that, pick how often you can reasonably update.

2.) Set yourself goals and stick to them. Once you've decided how much time you're willing to spend, and when (maybe you work best in the evenings. Maybe you can storyboard and sketch on your lunchbreaks. Maybe you can spend Sundays working on the comic - or whatever), decide how much you want to accomplish and stick to it. Don't let other stuff get in the way, unless that stuff is super-important.

3.) Realise that it's okay to take your time. Some things are hard to balance, and in this case, school is obviously more important. If putting off your comic for when you have more time is what it takes, then that's what it takes. It's okay!

[Kura]

Quit school.

Ok no don't listen to me I'm a bad influence.

Seriously though, since you're just starting school it's gonna be hard for you to find any extra time, give yourself some time to get used to your school schedule and then you'll know better how to fit your comic schedule in. There are some times in the school year when you're not going to have time for comics at all, those are inevitable so don't feel guilty about needing to take breaks from tests or even just from being overwhelmed in general.

[UzukiCheverie]

Seriously though, since you're just starting school it's gonna be hard for you to find any extra time, give yourself some time to get used to your school schedule and then you'll know better how to fit your comic schedule in. There are some times in the school year when you're not going to have time for comics at all, those are inevitable so don't feel guilty about needing to take breaks from tests or even just from being overwhelmed in general.

It differs from person to person.

I'm in school and I have a job that requires me to be there between 15-25 hours a week, but (before my computer died) I was able to update daily pages for my stuff. It's doable, you just need to come up with a system.

So what kind of system should you come up with, @grilledsoap? Definitely give it a week or two for you to get used to your school schedule.

Come up with an update schedule that works for you, whether it's once a week, twice a week, once every two weeks, etc. Come up with ways to stick to it, to start.

Use your free time for comics. If you can sit and watch Netflix for 3 hours, you can be drawing comics. Anything that you can multitask with, do it. Whenever I work on my stuff, I'm always watching Netflix at the same time; it's something that I can listen to without getting distracted from my comic (it's best to watch a series you've watched before too).

Also, when it comes to school work, don't exert more energy than you need to. This is coming from the king of all procrastinators so don't let me be a bad influence here, but if you have an assignment that's due in 2 weeks that you can easily get done in 2 days, then get it done in 2 days. Don't try and justify its deadline and make it seem like it's a project that needs exactly 2 weeks worth of work, unless it's actually a project that needs 2 weeks of work. Junior high is always super busy at the beginning because most of the teachers are just trying to intimidate you anyway And also you're getting into a new schedule that's different than before. Once you settle into a workflow that works for you and move on with the year, it won't be so hard.

But this is coming from the person that never got their homework done either u o u So again, don't let me be a bad example :U Basically all I'm saying is, don't overwork yourself, school comes first, but don't let it suck your lifeblood out of you either. Take your time with your personal work, especially if it's something you care about. Stick to your updating pace and work schedule as best you can, and multitask where possible.

[Shiori_Saku]

What I did while I was in school was I would work on pages while taking breaks in homework. This gave me a chance to let my brain relax and absorb what I'd studied as well as get some image work done. I'm one of those people who constantly doodles or has to be doing something with their hands so this worked well for me, especially if there was a lot of reading involved. Text books are great but they just don't draw you in and keep you interested like a novel dose.

I only updated ONCE a month when I was in school but you updating schedule will also depend on your social life. If you have none then you'll have more time to work on your comic and may be able to publish once a week. If you like to go to movies and eat out with friends when you have free time then you make limit yourself to once or twice a month. It will be different for each person.

Just find a groove that works for you but whatever you do DONT STOP working on your comic. Once you stop it becomes something you left sitting on a back burner and when you finally remember that its there all the inspiration has evaporated and your left without any motivation to continue drawing or developing the story.

[abbastudios]

Do your homework first and then work on your comic.

[LTyler]

Focus on the work you have to do, with the goal in mind of getting the stuff you want to do afterwords. With that carrot in front of you, you'll get your school work or work-work or housework or whatever work you have to do, but don't particularly want to do, and it'll get done more quickly & efficiently.
Then, you reward yourself with the work you actually want to do, and enjoy doing.
And if you get ahead in your studies, you'll be able to put studies on hold for a while and be able to binge on your drawing.

That's what I do, anyways. It keeps me productive ... I understand the whole feeling tired thing, though - I stay up until 12 am, wake up at 6 or 7 am, work pretty much all day & night between work-work and art-work. And I go out and socialize with friends maybe once a week in order to keep myself sane. XD (People who have babies survive on 4 hours of sleep or less, so why can't I make do with 6? Art is my baby, after all.)
It's tiring at first, but humans are adaptable - although psychologically/physically we don't want to adapt unless we have to (because adapting takes energy and effort), we can do it.
You feel tired now, but just keep exorcising those work muscles and you'll adapt to the new work load in due time. Once you find you've adapted, keep pushing yourself beyond what you think your psychological & physical limits are, and you'll see that you can go a lot farther than you think you can (For example, when I first started making comics, I couldn't imagine doing more than a page every three days. Now I'm doing an average of two pages every day, and intend to keep going harder).

Good luck! Keep fighting! Keep growing! And eventually, you'll be able to take over the world! MWUAHHAAHA!

[fighterxaos]

Well, one of my tricks when I was in school was to draw during class time. I made it look like I was taking notes. But that's not for everyone.

[grilledsoap]

My brothers and everyone I met told me that junior year (11th grade) Is the hardest year and so far I am feeling it so I have to disagree with the whole intimidate thing but I like the idea of multitasking. Normally I would watch youtube and then make comics. I was able to get one done today by doing that (You can see it tomorrow at Tapastic.com/series/Title-Number9 )! I'll probably just squeeze in some drawing whenever I can. Thanks

[Doubtcent]

Really, just work hard until you have no energy left. Hopefully by then it'll be spring break or Christmas. There is no real balance other than just working hard and being determined.