What's harder: waiting as a reader or waiting as a creator?

[Cielle]

seems the consensus so far is it's harder to wait as a creator! and yes, @shazzbaa, dumb character details are the hardest to hold in! And literal years of waiting...it's really tough >.< but it's worth it in the end. at least, I hope it is XD

@AnnaLandin I hadn't thought about the buffer aspect! Usually I only have a week to wonder if people will like it. It must be hard waiting to release all those pages! I would definitely have to fight the temptation to release it all over the course of 3 days. It's probably nice not having to worry about missing updates due to real life setbacks though!

[AnnaLandin]

Plus yeah, even without a buffer, you think of a cool revelation for one of your characters and it's like
welp
/holds it inside of me for literal years

hahahahahahahahaha (hey did you know my favourite Grassblades-character doesn't show up until, like, page 450 and I CANNOT WAIT FOR READERS TO MEET THEM aaaaaaah)

@AnnaLandin I hadn't thought about the buffer aspect! Usually I only have a week to wonder if people will like it. It must be hard waiting to release all those pages! I would definitely have to fight the temptation to release it all over the course of 3 days. It's probably nice not having to worry about missing updates due to real life setbacks though!

Yeah, whenever I finish a REALLY nice page (like in chapter five! there are plenty of pages I'm proud of in chapter five!), I can't show people until, like SIX MONTHS from now.

Not having to worry about updates is awesome, though. Having this big of a buffer is my way of coping with the stress of a regular update-schedule.

[phen]

Oh most definitely as the above say, as a creator trying -- NO, STRUGGLE BUS DRIVING against the grain of spoiler-territory is insanely hard. Not only is pacing in peril but plot and character arcs at threat as you move along. Especially when someone leaves a comment that gets so close to what will happen next, you wanna jump around and just flood 'em with everything, heh.

But that said(!), reading and waiting is often one of those, "... wait, no, no, not the last page of the chapter! What's happening, I need more of this!!" I love running into comics that grab me and before I know it, I've reached the most recent update totally outta nowhere. Clicking and clicking and scrolling, like, "Hey, that's not it, where's the rest??"

[Kura]

Creator side is more difficult for me.

So.hard.not.to.give.spoilers. (especially with the comment discussions that get left on pages)

Even buffers are hard to have, I just want to release everything right now. I'm pretty bad with these and will release an extra page at any excuse I get... what a holiday? Extra page. What? 100 more subscribers? Extra page. What? Some kind of monthly art drawing event? How about instead of drawing in that I release an EXTRA PAGE!???? (my readers don't seem to mind though)

[joannekwan]

Yep, creator-side of things is worse. As a reader I don't like predicting what will happen next all the time because I want to let the creator tell me their tale! It's like asking questions during a movie, I hate it! >:c

But yeah, as a creator I can't wait to share my entire story! Since most of my series are almost complete anyway, script-wise. Even when I finish a page only a few days ahead of when it's supposed to go live, I get the urge to hit publish right away. But then I worry if people won't like it as well once they get a few more scenes in.

[mariusthered]

like most here have said I too find it hard to wait as a creator. I have ten seasons of old script ready to bring to the fans and I at present on season five. what i cannot wait for is getting back to writing fresh stuff. the hardest part of this comic gig is the time it takes to plan, write and create, especially for us one man bands who do all the jobs alone.

as a reader I don't like things that post too slow, if a scene that in comic time is one day and it takes weeks to get through that scene, i probably wont get to the end of it. bulk reading comics is better sometimes.

[Pandastrophic]

To be honest for me, waiting as a reader.
I'm actually a bit more chill about posting pages, I update regularly with a lot of content so there is always a little something in the episode that I want to show people so that helps, there are of course major parts that I feel like I want to get to but I honestly don't mind waiting and getting people to wait lol, my buffer is my comfort XDD.
I actually feel as a reader it's a bit harder for me, especially for series that don't update often or update irregularly, there is always that fear that the webcomic I love might just stop updating one day so it's honestly much harder waiting as a reader and when it finally updates there is a sense of relief. For me personaly at least.

[R.n.P]

The two situations are just too painful but waiting to upload one's comic as a creator seems more painful to me since I only do one comic THE LAST SAMURAI so there is no other comic I'm creating in order to distract myself.
I'm juz happy that my deadline is tomorrow so I can upload another episode n see my readers reactions towards it.

[Jabbage]

SIX MONTHS? OH no, I'd be a complete wreck... I've got about six weeks of buffer and that feels like an age. I have a couple of friends who I show comic pages to as soon as I've completed them just to get it out of my system.

I also try to keep artist' notes for each page as I create them so that when the time comes up upload the comic I can remember what I wanted to say about it (although that doesn't apply on Tapastic since I believe that kind of thing isn't really allowed!)

[niczchan]

Waiting as creator is definitely a hard one - especially when it comes to scheduling your next episode in days later which basically makes you the impatient one xD

[gnekomikero]

For me, waiting as creator is hard. Since me myself want to rush to finish every chapter as possible and the pressure that the reader might impatiently wait and unsubscribe the comic.

[AnnaLandin]

SIX MONTHS? OH no, I'd be a complete wreck... I've got about six weeks of buffer and that feels like an age. I have a couple of friends who I show comic pages to as soon as I've completed them just to get it out of my system.

Yep. I've got about 50 pages of buffer right now, which works out as 25 weeks - or 5.7 months. Wheeeeee!

I also try to keep artist' notes for each page as I create them so that when the time comes up upload the comic I can remember what I wanted to say about it (although that doesn't apply on Tapastic since I believe that kind of thing isn't really allowed!)

Not sure what you mean here - what about keeping artist' notes isn't allowed on Tapastic? You can write whatever you want in the author's note field beneath your comic page, as long as it doesn't go against their content-policy.

[kambreapratt]

I agree that as a creator is harder. We don't have a big buffer, but I have the comic written a few chapters ahead. It kills me that we can't get it out as fast as I write it. There are some really fun things coming up soon! I can't talk about it with anyone except my husband and my mom!!

[HRandt]

Waiting as a creator kill me!!
But it is also a good way to get down to bussiness. In fact, I think sometimes that is the only thing that keep me working in a long comic story.

[Ringarune]

ahhhhh, >^< I can't decide, both can be hard at times. As a creator, I really want to upload and share my pages whenever I'm finished, but I know that's not the smart thing to do. As a reader, there r certain series that are hard to wait for every week, for example, I'm currently obsessed with ecstasy hearts on webtoon, and whenever the update gets delayed... it's... it's a sad day...

[kkitty]

OH BOY I'VE SENT SO MANY STORIES INTO THE GARBAGE BECAUSE OF THIS
You have NO clue
Today I made up two characters I'm absolutely IN LOVE WITH and I just can't. I can't do it. Especially since I love creating children characters the most and you're literally going to have to wait years in-comic for them to appear.

As a reader the pain of waiting is different. While waiting to showcase a character your chest hurts because your heart is beating out of it, as a reader your heart breaks a little knowing the next stuff won't be out yet.

[dracoplato]

Unpopular opinion but I think waiting as a reader is harder. As a creator I know what's going to happen and I can play with my characters indefinitely in any way I want so I'm not just limited to what's in the comic version either. So for me as a creator I'm never really waiting, but for the reader they don't know what's going to happen next or where the story is going to go so I think it's harder for them.

I may just be super used to not sharing my works though, hahah XD

[foxowl]

For me, waiting as a creator is harder. Especially when you have to wait to introduce a character you love, or a chapter you feel will get more attention than the others.
With waiting as a reading, it's more on the day like 'come on Tapastic, release the update!'

[SirHellsir]

As a reader you know the comic will update (hoping a hiatus never happens), but as a creator there's the uncertainty of getting readers, will they like it? will they stay? can I make a living?

[ToonDoctor]

I think readers have it tougher because creators have more control over the work that they do. Readers really are at the mercy of a creator's schedule. That creator may be exhausted one week, go on a vacation, be caught up with work or school and so on. Sure as a creator, I want my story to be read and enjoyed but creating the page for the sake of creation already gives me a lot joy. There are web comics that I've been reading for years without any payoff in sight. Some cool series I've invested in just stopped because the creators had no more money, or time, or jut decided to move on. In the creator's mind, there is a complete picture of the story. Not in my mind as a reader.

It's tougher to wait as a comic reader!