What were your biggest fears when you first started your webcomic?

[kambreapratt]

Like others have mentioned, my fear was that people would think my writing sucked. I am not a writer, I am a storyteller, and it isn't exactly the same thing.

Guess what? Someone did say it sucked. LOL. We were only in our 2nd chapter and a big podcast reviewed it and called it "Poo." They had some valid criticisms, but some comments weren't fair as we were not far enough into the comic to have addressed those issues. I wrote and thanked them and defended a few points. I kept it professional and kind. They felt bad and retracted their comment. But they weren't 100% wrong and I did try to do better because of it.

We lived, and here we are years later, still going, and we do pretty well with it. We have gotten a lot of doors opened because of it. So it must not have sucked too much.

My point is. My worst fear came true and we didn't quit. We learned from it. Survived, and excelled past what we thought we could do. If you don't try you can't fail, but you can't succeed either.

Because we have a sense of humor, we were going to put "It's Poo" as a quote on the back of our book but we thought that not everyone would get the joke and it might be better to not do that.

[Choosybeggar]

I was enjoying reading your story about your work, but that idea for the back of your book made it ten times better. I would have laughed if I saw it, regardless of having heard a podcast or not. Why can't everyone appreciate a little bit of author's bonus content?

[gruetzi]

Exactly the same, I still wonder if I will be capable to going ahead with it :/

[stefthefrizz]

Even comments that are simple questions related to the writing itself can set my paranoia off pretty bad p:

I understand and relate so completely.
Just last week I had one of my friends ask me over chat if I had my story "read by anyone else before I started drawing my comic"... which I promptly translated into "Uhh...Has anyone actually read and approved this script of yours? Because girl, I see issues." - when actually she was just looking for someone to proofread the first draft for her own story. -sigh-

I facepalmed at my silliness.

[demthorshie]

I can definitely relate. Although i've been able to manage my comic so far, I still worry if i'll be able to keep up with my current schedule in the future x.x...

[illizard]

My comic was actually made to help me cope with fear =). Inspired by "Daily Zoo" project, I started a comic about funny monkeys during my cancer treatment. (As Christopher Titus said - " ...But instead, I choose to be an antidepressant. And you can take me with alcohol." =) )

All the usual worries like "would people like it?" came long after a first online publication.

[insomniascrawl]

That my art wasn't good enough, that my writing wasn't good enough, that my story wouldn't be good enough that no one would like it.

I was pretty cynical about the whole thing starting out tbh, but I'm glad I didn't let it stop me.

[phen]

I think my biggest fear when started There's No Such Thing as Jason -- I.T. was if it would even materialise to anything. I'd had a huge chunk of it all written out long before getting it started. The whole comic is based off of a spin-off of the main series so I was really quite afraid of how I could organise and present a MASSIVE story in comic format beginning with fully established characters and settings. It's actually coming along really well so far, I'm surprised. It's still confusing, I'm sure, but... not as abstract as it was earlier this summer.

Now, I almost completely dropped Candour is Going Mad back in November because I'd gotten some feedback on the opening and first chapter and it was bad. I didn't want to give up on the characters, though, they'd been the first creations I'd had since graduating from college. I had to make them work! I've managed to figure out a few missteps and, with the support of some incredible family members (and one freaking killer friend!), I've gotten the opening down. I still hold onto the fear of there being a lack of interest in it once it's out there, though. It's so strange how deep the impact of disinterest can feel even before it hits you. It's petrifying!

Being able to balance my everyday life with the comic...

Ah gosh, way to send me directly into gut churn. I hadn't even thought about keeping up with uploads and deadlines longterm until I read your comment, haha! That is a very real, very big fear I'd overlooked! Time to seize the good mood while it's hear and pump out as many buffer pages as possible, heheh~

[demthorshie]

I'm glad you didn't decide to stop working There's no such thing as Jason, really enjoying it so far ^^. I did notice that you have another comic as well and it's beautiful from what I read!

I tend to overthink things a lot and plan for the future way too much xD! Even with my current schedule, it's still very hard to make buffer pages .

[goenn]

My biggest fears when I first started HERO.SYN are probably the art, story and the fact whether I would have any time to even continue working on it hahhaha. I'm so afraid people would get bored of it especially since my updates are kinda far apart (university is kill) and if the readers would be able to relate to North since he's a kid and not a young adult (like 16 or something). As for art, I'm worried it's not good enough to be able to convey the world setting easily and the whole decrepit city life and arhrhgrrhrgh.

And sometimes, I wonder if I can even finish it at all! It's a pretty big story and each chapter is around 30 or so pages and there's a lot of chapters and side chapters where I want to flesh out the minor minor characters and and augh

[Dranif]

My big fears? They still hit me from time to time.
The fear that strikes when starting a series, "that nobody would care about it"".
The fears that keep coming regardless, "The readers don't care, they only subscribed to be nice", "My inexperience with dramatic angles is why I'm not very well recognized", "I should stop using a chibi style, regardless of time constraints or personal preference, or else there'd be hell to pay", "If I do a certain comic page or scene that I'm actually not feeling confident with, nobody would like it", "No human wants to read a comic that has virtually no humans", "My art and writing isn't exactly what it should be here".

[maeaton08]

I always worry that the art isn't good enough. This is why I have so many incomplete projects. I thought I liked the art on Imaginary Friend but now I'm not so sure. May go back and edit because I do know I like the story and want to continue it.

[Waterdrain]

Yes definitely! My biggest fears were thinking that no one would like them or the comics would be to confusing to follow. I was also worried about my own art style being discriminated for not being original enough for peoples approval. Sure, I still have a few of those fears but I don't let them get the best of me because no one can be truly original. Ideas are subconsciously made by what we learned and things that we have seen before. Also drawing when ever you can and not waiting for yourself to be in the right mood can help you to become a better artist. Even if it's just a doodle or something simple, helps you form ideas faster and better. So I draw whenever I have time to do so.
I know might be hard for you to ignore the nagging feeling, but as long you keep working hard and keep on doing the best that you can do, you have already achieved at becoming a great artist.

[Jabbage]

That was my worry too! I mean I was worried about external things like not attracting readers or inciting flamers, but my biggest worry was the internal one that I just wouldn't have the stamina or skills to make it work. This is part of the reason I've been starting small, sticking to stories with under 50 pages for a couple of years until I've got the self-confidence to commit to more!

[keii4ii]

I was actually pretty fearless when I first started back in 1999. I felt slightly embarrassed at my less than pro art (completely oblivious about how dumb my writing was, heh heh), but it wasn't fear. The joy I got out of drawing and sharing always outshone any negative feelings I felt about my own work. The artist/writer in me didn't even know the meaning of the word 'fear' until some time last year, months after my current webcomic has been running.

When Fear finally arrived, it wasn't a nagging feeling... it replaced my world. I was like a pathological anorexic obsessed with "gotta get thinner," except it wasn't about my body. It was about my comic. The rest of my life ceased to exist for over a month until I finally realized that this wasn't normal, that I was ill in the mind. Since then, I've been recovering. The path to recovery has not been a straight upward road; it's an upward spiral, making it seem like I'm going in circles, but looking back long term, I know I've made huge progress.

"or else there'd be hell to pay"

Hang in there, man. This irrational fear is what DESTROYED me last year. I was somehow convinced, beyond ALL doubt, that failing to make my story good enough would mean the end of my life. It makes no sense, but I didn't even think to question it at the time.

But as it turns out... I'm still here, alive, even though my writing sucks almost as much as it did last year! \o/

[phen]

Thank you, thank you, aaa! It's always so encouraging when another proper comics artist gives ya praise. w

AND DUDE, YES, I agree 10000% here -- I have a pretty open schedule as well but I still manage to kind of lag when it comes to creating a buffer! Days need to be about 6 hours longer. Please?

[Choosybeggar]

. . . was constantly scared in the end it wouldn't hold up and would push people away versus draw them in.

Gah! Don't scare me like that! But isn't that one thing, fear of pushing people away, such a fundamental problem? I mean, I see people talking about fear of haters, fear of making poor quality work, fear of hating earlier work, fear of disinterest. I feel those things sometimes, and understand they are valid fears that affect people just as badly. But being afraid of pushing people away? That hits me deep in the gut.

[foxowl]

I had a panic attack when my first page was uploaded, but before uploading I keep thinking that nobody really likes my comic or that it looks really amateur compared to other comics. I carrying on with it though, mostly to get the idea out of my head.

[SandraMJ]

I was afraid my mum would read the latest Prozaic page and ask me what the hell's up with the protagonist's cough SPOILER cough prozac addiction.

Then I remembered my mum knows nothing about English. But the point still persists, "is my comic still family friendly"?

[BraveHeartTatsumaki]

When I started Final Light my biggest fear was that people would not like it, or people would not like the characters (primordially, the main character), that they'd find it too common, too childish, or anything. Or also I'd mess up and not make a consisntent plot or not be able to connect all the things I started to point out in the plot (this is still my fear). And also maybe I wouldn't be able to make interesting episodes cause this story might be very long.
So far haven't gotten none saying they don't like the characters or anything I said above, and I'm uploading my comic in 3 different sites, two in english, and a spanish one