What do you do on a Hiatus?

[alaingrey]

Everyone takes a hiatus at some point, either because life is crazy, they have an injury, they need time to catch up...

I'm currently on hiatus because my work life has gotten too crazy, and I don't have the mental energy to get working, and I figured that a chapter break was a good point to sit back and relax. What I didn't expect is... I'm bored as hell.

So, if you've taken a hiatus for a not-too-serious reason, what did you do to keep your comic energy up? Q and A's? Extras? Short stories? Hawaii vacation?

Share your ideas- I'm sure people other than me must get a little bored while on rest too x 0

[WintreKitty]

Whenever I take a hiatus, it's because of work. I'm just coming off a short hiatus because I had an 8 day week of about 72 hours of work. On these kinds of breaks, I don't really have time for anything but work and sleep. I did find myself tweeting more though. I became more active in the comic community in a way that I didn't really feel I had time to do when I was working on my reviews. I like to show people that I'm still here and I still care without actually posting any content -and twitter seemed to have been my way of going about this. It is also something that doesn't take a lot of energy or commitment so it worked out well. I'd just tweet right before sleeping or on a break or something.

[mariusthered]

it's a good time to write and plot stuff out.

[Kayke]

The last hiatus I took was for work/medical reasons. I was working on a freelance comic gig plus working at my day job full time and it was killing me... well not killing me, but I did strain my wrist and it was a whole big thing. Had to go to the doctors and go on pain meds and now I wear a wrist brace. I couldn't really stop drawing the freelance comic since I was under contract, so I put my webcomic on hiatus to give myself at least a little break.

So my last hiatus wasn't the kind where you get more free time haha -__-
I think if I were to take a hiatus now for relaxation purposes, I'd probably play video games and swim a lot! Enjoy the summer vibes!

[Michelle]

I don't think I'm doing it right, because I use my hiatus...es (hiatiis? hiatusi?) to catch up for the next chapter |D I intend to have about a month between each chapter to give myself a boost for the coming chapter. Right now I'm working on the next script, so by the time chapter 2 wraps up I can begin doing preliminary art for chapter 3 during the hiatus.

Though if I were to just not even touch my comic but wanted to keep my energy up... I'd probably take the month to binge on a lot of inspiring comics, movies and games. I'm been pretty bad about that, since I spend much of my time drawing pages, I often forget to check out cool new stuff :x but it's a good way to relax and also feel like you're being productive.

[acealmansoori]

I never took a hiatus since I have a 30page buffer, but I was a bit consumed with uni work and couldn't work on the pages and the buffer is catching up ;-; I need to finish the rest in less than two weeks ;A:

But if I ever took a hiatus it will be to read and enjoy the rest of the summer.

[jessicasurline]

I usually take a 1 month hiatus at the end of a chapter. Though online it seems like I abandoned the world but in reality I'm still working as hard as before. During my hiatus I get to organize with the writer and get the next chapter planned and started. Though I find this hiatus time very needed, I do miss the community reactions to new posts. I try to still have a presence online by chatting on forums and stuff but it isn't as magical as posting days. Funny thing is, when I take a real hiatus (as in not working on a comic) no one knows online. It is nice to be able to take a sick day or go to holiday events because of the buffer I planned ahead of time. Later this year I know I will be taking off a good amount of time for maternity leave but since I'm working on building a buffer already, no one will notice me gone online because content will still be available regularly.

[shazzbaa]

Seconding Aron, I used mine to kinda get all my ducks in a row so to speak.... getting my story notes organised and consolidating my 5 billion different notes into a comprehensive plot outline, working on script, planning. And getting a head start on pages.

My hiatus (family/personal reasons) was 2 years long; I stepped away completely for a year and I was incredibly miserable, so for the second year I kinda worked on things just at a doable pace, and did a lot of the organisational work that's important but that I often feel like I don't have time for.

I didn't post much online; I did one little questionnaire thing on tumblr but eventually told people that doing Q&As and such while the comic was on break felt too much like gossipping about my characters when they're out of town. xD

[alaingrey]

Thanks for all the advice!
@Kaykedrawsthings- swimming! part of this hiatus is that I'm doing a week long funeral event... at the beach. So I'll definitely do some sad swimming
Nothing like that beach air to help contemplate your fleeting mortality.

@Michelle - nice! i had plans to do that but I've been binge watching Frasier, which is pretty lame. I did see Stranger Things though and it really inspired me.

As for doing planning- I'm done! So bored. I could thumbnail pages maybe, but I really don't feel like ever making a buffer. It's just not how I function. I'd maybe go for a Q and A to occupy me during my upcoming travels/stresses but I just don't have enough readers who'd want to interact in that manner :9

[Kura]

I think the only time I took hiatus was because of medical issues, computer problems, or family problems. So hiatus just consists of me dealing with those issues.

[J.Z.Castillo]

I usually take a hiatus when I am back in school (my BFA is no joke #ArtBootcamp) so I just draw and work on illustrations for shows and commissions. Also sometimes I go on vacation somewhere in the US and just drink with locals haha. I also plan for what's to come and work on re-drawing older pages.

[AnnaLandin]

So, if you've taken a hiatus for a not-too-serious reason, what did you do to keep your comic energy up? Q and A's? Extras? Short stories? Hawaii vacation?

So far, I've only taken scheduled breaks between chapters, which usually last a week; I mostly spend that time spell-checking the upcoming chapter, drawing the next chapter-cover, doing final corrections, and draw to keep ahead of my readers.

... And on one memorable occasion the break ended up being two weeks because I got the mother of all colds and was unable to breathe like an actual living person for a whole bunch of days. So, that, I guess.

I usually try to spend some time during the break a.) drawing stuff that isn't my comic, and b.) convincing myself it's okay to relax and do stuff just for fun. I forget sometimes that it's okay to do that, and that I'm NOT a terrible person for not drawing every waking hour.

Mind you, even when I play videogames or watch cartoons or just hang out with my family, some part of my brain is always thinking about my comic, so, uh. ^_^; I'm doing my best, but you know.

[garrowtyler]

I write the plot, play with the art style and stock up on pages.

[punkarsenic]

honestly, i only take hiatus because of work or mental health - the college course im taking is pretty low maintenance, so im looking at a long time w/out a hiatus so long as i dont dissociate too much to think, like, constantly.

although, i guess with the monthly / sporadic way i update it seems like a hiatus... in that time, i'm writing, planning, and dissociating too much to think. really. i spent a lot of time just staring into space. executive dysfunction can get bent

if i plan on taking a hiatus longer than the monthly break in which im drawing the next update, i'd make some extra teaser updates - spoofy little things like a three-panel joke or a parks and recs reference. it depends on the audience though, some people might prefer more information on lore (i sure would) or preliminary sketches

[indagold]

I hiatesed based on school demands and once something personal that made me want to quit my comic. Right now I'm gonna try to never hiatus and if I do only for a week or two. I'm gonna make a batch of comic pages before releasing the whole thing so I don't lose readership and have a constant update schedule.

[Shanny8]

Hiatus? What's that? Lol...

But seriously- I dont know if I'll ever see one of those in a long time. I'm hoping to wrap up actual production on Ch 1 of my webcomic by the end of October- but then I gotta script out Ch 2 and work on my printed book series; I'm supposed to releasing Issue #3 of that one by next year. I'll spend about 2 months(through the holiday season) getting that done; hopefully when that project is finished, I should be finished scripting Ch 2 of my webcomic, and start on that. Chapter 1 of my webcomic should end by the end of January, so I should be taking a month off until Chapter 2 starts...so I wont be seeing a break until early 2017.

[katverwho]

If I take a hiatus, it's usually because things have gone to hell in my life, which means there's no down time to do fun comic-related things. The exception for me was when I worked on two comics at once, and one of them was picked up by a publisher, so I put Meat&Bone on hold while I got the other story finished and sent off....as a result there's a HUGE style jump early on.

I did run a patreon for a couple years and building thick sketchbooks for that, as well as running side projects as incentives, were interesting things to do in regular downtime - not to mention it brought in a little coin! Since I want to focus solely on making one comic currently, I closed that down for now.

Ideally, I don't go on hiatus. Obviously this is a TALL order, and everyone has different life obligations. I'm not someone who's willing to only get 3 hours of sleep instead of missing a page date, but I also try to have a respectable amount of buffer, so that when the shit inevitable hits the fan, I'm prepared.

Then again! I also think it depends on how your share your comic (a few pages regularly throughout the week, whenever you have a chance, in monthly chapters, etc., etc., pick a variation). Announcing a planned hiatus is different than disappearing for weeks or months. Having guest art or some other light filler for a planned hiatus is a nice way to tide readers over during the break as well.....

Sorry, I feel like my thoguhts are kind of scattered today!

[GesuGesu]

summer anime convention prep time. I also wanted to redo the thumbnails/plot progression of the later pages and needed the time to rework the plot from where I stopped.

[maxzaguishi]

I have few subs, I doubt that anyone read my profile but in my case I me excuse me about to disappear a month (for Pokemon go hunting)

[Kamikaze]

30 PAGES?! Omg we struggle just to keep FOUR. TT_TT You're an inspiration~!