So what makes you keep up with the deadline in a real way, where it's a tangible thing you follow, and you actually feel the need to follow it? Like if the only reason to follow it is because I want to, it doesn't really affect me like that.
When you first get into making comics, you need to take into account that you won't make pages as fast as you eventually will when you've built up confidence, "muscle memory" and familiarity with the program you're using and your pipeline for making pages. Even an experienced creator starting a new comic with new characters and maybe a different artstyle or format from ones they've done before will need to allow for early pages taking longer.
My first webcomics didn't look like Errant, they looked like this:
Four panels, literally just pencil, really simple, one character, barely backgrounds... and they still took me a long time and I felt really proud of them when I was sixteen.
This is why everyone is has been saying "you should make a shorter comic first". The frustration of the gap between what you want to be able to create (a big, epic story that looks great, in full colour, updates on a regular schedule and can build an audience) and what you're experiencing (struggling to make pages to that deadline, especially to the level of finish you want) is clearly hurting you, and I can understand why you feel like you want to tear it all down.
I know you have a goal in mind, to finish this comic in a certain timeframe, and I understand it's frustrating to be told "That's not possible right now", but I think you need to spend some time where your sole aim, instead of being "make a comic that updates regularly and builds an audience" should be "Get good at drawing good looking comic pages quickly." Like really focus in on that. Read all the books, watch all the tutorials, do all the drawing exercises you can, and make pages in your own time, without deadlines, but with the aim of each one being a little faster or more polished.
Think of it like running a marathon. It's true, you can enter a marathon that's coming up in a week if you don't train at all, and just set off jogging, occasionally running...mostly walking and sometimes stopping, and complete it in very slow time or get set to the medical tent... or you can wait a year to enter next year's marathon, spend the year training and then kick ass and run the whole thing in a few hours. If you put in the time training now, free from all that other stuff like deadlines and promotion, and so have that freedom to stop halfway through a page and go "...the way I'm doing this is super fiddly, does anyone on the forums know a shortcut for this?" and then be able to redo the same page, or apply that knowledge to the next one, and not need to stress over consistency, you can build your comic drawing muscles for the comic you really care about and be able to draw it how you want, and to the deadline you want.
What could I start with? I don’t have any concepts i’m attached to that actually make for small comics.
Well, when I've needed to make a short comic for practice in the past, I've often chosen what to draw not based on "what's a short story I have a burning need to tell!?" because honestly, same, I have little to no interest in short stories (I like meaty ensemble cast stories where you can really get into the characters too!)... but instead, "What's a thing I struggle drawing, or have never really tried to draw before?"
I come up with something that will challenge me. My natural comfort zone tends to be around action and characters in kinda modern-ish fantastical clothes, so often for short comics, I've done stuff like "It's a down-to-earth modern romance/slice of life" or "It's dark ages fantasy with appropriate costumes" or "Sci-Fi.", and I might pick what the story is about based on what I need to practice, like "I'm bad at drawing older people, let's have a story with an older person in it- I know! What if it's about a teenager and their grandparent?" or "I'm uncomfortable drawing romantic scenes, I'm going to make a comic where the main focal point of the story is a romantic scene."
Or for competitions, I might choose what I draw based on "What can I bring that's unique?" So when I was a finalist in the Rising Stars of Manga back in like...06? (I think...), I chose to set my story in a Lake District landscape, because I knew I'd probably be the only entrant from Cumbria and it'd stand out. I wanted to draw monster fights, because I knew drawing action is one of my stand-out areas compared to other artists, and so I came up with Fell, a story about people who go up a fellside, cleaning up monsters left like litter by tourists leaving all their emotional baggage around, and it grew from there.
So try thinking less about "What is an amazing story" and more "What do I want to try drawing?" be it "what do I want to show off that I'm good at?" or "What do I want to get better at?"
then it sounds like there's an issue with your process slowing you down. What's keeping you from finishing it in time? Not liking where the story is going? skill? procrastination? writers block?
As other's have also said, perhaps work on a smaller comic, or if you want to continue working on this project, only view it as practice. Keep expectations low. Get your pages done and move on to the next even if you're not happy with them.
Art is hard. Most artists take decades to get to a place where they're proficient with their process. You can always go back in a few years to redraw/rewrite your story once your skills improve.
It sounds like the deadlines you were setting yourself weren't sustainable at your current "cruise pace".
Sure, saying "I'm going to post this page whether it's ready or not by x date/time" can motivate you and is a meaninful deadline, bad things happen if you don't and good things happen if you do. However if you just plucked a date and time out of thin air, it's likely that you're simply underestimating the time it takes you to make a comic page. Like I post a page a week because it's what is managable for my workflow, speed and artstyle. Other people post 20 pages per month. Would I rather post 20 pages per month and be way further in my story by now? Absolutely, but that's not sustainable and if I set myself that deadline I would be burnt out within the week.
To make deadlines meaningful they also have to be attainable, and sometimes that means recognising that at your current skill level / outside life situation / other factor that can force you to draw less/slower, the ideal speed you want is not for you. Of course if you fail time and time again you're going to not shoot for the deadline because experience has shown you that it's impossible. Make deadlines fair. Work out how long it takes you on average to draw a page and then set your deadline to that average.
I don’t think I have ADHD, so what I say works for me. If you do have ADD/ADHD, I would recommend looking into resources about time management.
For me, one motivator is being able to do other things once I am finished. I can’t work on project B until I finish with project A.
Another motivator is positive reinforcers. Reward yourself after completing large tasks. Like if your room is a mess, tell yourself that if you put the effort into clean it, you will treat yourself with ice cream.
You can also do things like tell yourself that you will not play video games until your project is done. It will remove the distraction while also motivating you to work towards something you want.
^ this. You don't necessarily have to practice on a short comic; you can just keep working on your current project but don't worry about deadlines or publishing on a schedule or even publishing in general yet if you want your series to start off with a bang. Just keep your work saved up on your harddrive and maybe post a few pages for feedback if you feel you need it!
(Personally, my very first attempt at comics1 was a 'long story', and then a few short collabs, and then a short solo comic, and only now am I working on a series and I'm still not working to a deadline 
So yeah, the fact that you're currently struggling to meet your deadlines is not a sign of doom by any means, or else I would be even more doomed to never complete the long series I have in mind (which I haven't even started yet) XD)
I have accepted this. What do you want me to do instead of what I did? Was asking this question wrong?
Honestly, deadlines don't mean anything unless something is at stake. This is why reward systems work like you can't play your favorite videogame until you've drawn for 20 minutes. When you know what you realistically can do, then you can make goals like "I want to have X done by Christmas or by the end of the year."
If you want to escalate it to a "deadline", what are you willing to give up if you don't make the deadline? Only you can answer that question. We can't and we can't hold you accountable.
I feel like the OP was already working off this principle ('if I don't meet the deadline, I'll destroy what I've done' & 'if I don't meet the deadline, I'll publish the unfinished version which feels bad'), and it's not working 
I think it's not working for the OP because they're setting the deadlines too tight for their current skill level, but it doesn't really work for me either for a different reason; when I'm ultimately in control of everything I do, trying to bribe or threaten myself doesn't feel like it carries any weight because at the end of the day, I'm still in charge
Actually, we might be able to! I've made a thread here4 which prevents me from obsessively checking the forum all the time, and it works because of the (perceived) external pressure.
OP might benefit from making a thread saying something like 'each time I don't meet the deadline for drawing my comic, I have to tell you and give a review to the first person who replies to my admission with their work'
Fair. Deadlines usually work if you're getting paid to do a job, have to pay a fee for being late, or have another person waiting on you to finish your part of the project. Destroying all of their work, just puts them back at square one. I don't threaten or bribe myself either. I try to write every day and I know that EVENTUALLY, I will finish my project. No "deadline" needed.
I tried that, too.
I also know how to breathe, how to drink water, and how to put on pants. Surprising isn’t it, bet you didn’t think I was THAT smart did you?
This is the last interaction you had with Aqua in another one of your threads. Why on this planet do you think they would respond to a response on a post they made 13 days ago after this? Sorry to step in Aqua but like Josh what?
No, it's fine. I really didn't know what to say but Josh had clearly stepped over the line and I'm pretty sure has shown their true colors as just a troll taking advantage of this community.
I'll give you the heads up because Josh always does this:
No matter what you suggest, no matter what complex, simple or obvious thing you tell them to do. No matter if it is an artist with 10 years of experience, a teacher, an amateur, someone already doing something compared to them despite having no clue whatsoever either about what to do.
Josh always has a "but", a "I already tried that", "I'm doing that right now", no matter what you say this person always seems to have a counter argument for everything even for the most basic things and that the only solution is to do them, and do them despite it won't work out in the first try.
At this point I don't care if they know how to use a bidet, but I'm now genuinely asking myself if this kind of treatment we receive, is the same their parents and teachers receive for absolutely every single damn thing they tell Josh to do. I recall they said they had no friends, I can see why.
People that don't want to improve won't improve, I believe all of us already spared enough patience, enough time and enough everything for them to still be ungrateful and problematic.
They were warned about not making post after post, and question after questions or even harassing people through DMs, they don't seem to realize that the way they answer to people is petty, sarcastic, always seeking for a fight, to counter argument, to argue, to oppose, to complain.
We don't get paid to be their teacher even less their therapist.
Oh I know I've had plenty of go arounds with Josh myself. This has just totally flabbergasted me, once again. I know not everyone is comfortable sticking up for themselves and I don't give a shit at this point. So just in case Aqua wasn't comfortable, I remember the shitshow that was their last interaction so I figured I'd say something. I don't expect Josh to understand but it's just for clarity sake for everyone who may not have seen both threads.
closed May 4, '23
unlisted May 4, '23
Suggested Topics
| Topic | Category | Replies | Views | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Have you ever been severely emotionally affected due to writing or acting a character? | Questions | 22 | 849 | Aug '24 |
| How do i contact? | Questions | 1 | 312 | May '24 |
| Free ink monday | Questions | 3 | 237 | Aug '24 |
| Is having a discord worth it | Questions | 0 | 121 | Aug '24 |
| Who here has Tumblr? Do you use it to promote your stories? | Questions | 7 | 186 | Dec '24 |