When should I let a project/comic go?

[Squeakybat]

Okay, I know I should believe in myself and try to make my comic dreams come true and all that jazz but... realistically, when is a good time to realize the a comic series or project just isn't going to work out for you?
What I mean is, what is a decent length of time/effort to give a project before saying. "Okay, we have given this the best we can give. It hasn't gain X amount of steam in X amount of time.So, perhaps it's time to let it go and move on to something else?"
two years? three years? four years?

[Mysterious_Fog]

I don't know, I just started around Tap. I should be wondering the same thing......

[mirokulaw39]

I think its not about how long or how much you earn. You should ask yourself if you want to draw the series I you dont like to draw it anymore, then dont
That's what i think~
(m_m)!

[joannekwan]

Give it a year and see if you still love your story/series as much as when you started. Don't think about subs, revenue, or numbers, but think about what your plot and characters mean to you. If you find yourself hating them, then by all means let it go.

[YONBUI]

if it's a random story that's continues and has no real ending but you feel it's gone on long enough then give it a good farewell ending and move on to a new project if you want. but if it's a story with a beginning middle and end then i'd say get to the end before you move on. i say strive for completion that way when you move to the next one you won't just start making random stories that you never finish

[sarrowsmith10]

I've found that the only way you get better and you gain steam is finishing what you started. If you are always creating new stories with no resolution, its harder for readers to trust you. I'm not super interested in becoming invested in a story that the creator is going to abandon in a few months.

I think its good to plan your whole arch. Do some short stories with beginnings/middle/end before doing a long form comic. Get fans on board with your short comics. Put out your ideas and have your fans test them. Find some beta readers. Get feedback. All those things. (Make friends who always comment on your stuff. It helps! Even if it is just your little sister or whoever... haha)

Then, if after all the planning, writing, and feedback isn't going your way, then maybe abandon the idea.

Good luck and don't give up!

[DsCashewsOfficial]

If you have and subs maybe consider asking them for their opinion...should you wrap up the story and start a new one or keep it going. They may even have some new story line ideas that inspire you to keep going.

If you've been at it for a while (at least 6 months of regular consistent updating) do some self reflection and see how you feel about the comic. Do you still feel strongly about it? If so, then keep going. If you are very passionate about something then there are people out there that will connect with it. Part of the challenge is finding those people.

[Aspie_Gamer]

When you feel that you've done all that you can with a project/comic is when you should close the curtain on it unless you want it to become a shell of its former self cough Family Guy cough

[Sanz]

I'd when you can't stand the thought of working on it, and dread to do so. it's time to lay to rest

[shazzbaa]

Assume it won't ever make you money and your audience will remain small. Is it still worth it? If not, then I think making webcomics will be a difficult and frustrating experience.

If it IS still worth it, then the time frame Jennie Breeden gave me when I was starting out was "update regularly for 2 years. If you still want to do it after 2 years, you know webcomics are right for you." 8 years later, I agree with her; you can't really judge how well you're doing until after a couple of years.

But that said, I think that if there is something else you want to pursue and webcomics are getting in the way of that, don't be afraid to step away, or feel like stepping away is the same thing as giving up on your dreams. On the internet, it's easy to feel like you can't ever quit or else you've failed, but sometimes taking some time away to pursue something else is the best thing you can do for yourself and your work.

[demthorshie]

I think it's difficult to give your comic a set amount of time to gain a large following. I think it depends more so on whether or not you still enjoy making your comic or have the time to create pages for it. If you're beginning to feel like creating webcomics are interfering with your life in a negative way or if you're just plain sick of drawing it, those are both good reasons to let a project go I think.

[hushicho]

I personally like to keep a number of projects going at the same time now. While I was doing Incubus Tales, which I did for 7+ years, I did a few side projects, but none of them really took off. I usually give any project at least a few pages to see if I can "feel" them even when I'm not particularly inspired or in the mood, since logically if a series continues over a period of months or years, you aren't going to feel super into them every single day. Some of the stories I did also had a theme that was interesting at one time, but became uninteresting to me looking back later, or ended up being one of countless others because a trend hit, so that can also have an effect on how a series feels.

I feel like if a series isn't performing the way you want it to, take a step back and see what you can see -- try to look for what isn't working for you. Sometimes it helps to take a dry erase board or a text editor or something and make a chart or bullet points, whatever works for you! See if you can list what is working and what isn't, and look at the two things, comparing and contrasting.

As others here have noted, it can also really help to ask your readers and subscribers what their thoughts are on it, but one thing I'd like to emphasize is to ask people what they like rather than what they don't. It's much easier for people to think of things they dislike, and if you end up getting rid of everything someone dislikes, you'll have nothing left that's yours. It takes more effort and forces people to think, if they have to think of what they do like and make a list of it.

Ultimately, it all comes down to you. This is your call. If you're having a really hard time coming up with stories, if you don't feel anything for the story, if you have no connection to the characters anymore, it may be time to rest it. You don't have to end it or put it down forever, but maybe it would be a good idea to come back to it at a later time. I do think it's best to be honest in these cases though, and if you aren't sure if you can come back to it, just say so. Most of the people who grew to love your style and approach will come with you to the next project. Just be sure to keep them posted about what that is!

[J.Lovelace]

You don't have to let go of it entirely. You can put it on hiatus until you want to go back to it at some point.
You might even have people ask when you will continue the series, which might be a nudge to pick it up again.

In my case, I like to switch from series to series. Whenever I feel bored with one, I work on the other one until I miss working on the previous one or overcome a plot hole, and the inspiration juices flow again. So I never really let them go. They just wait their turn to be finished.
It's like having few unfinished books on your shelf, which you want to read further, but not today nor tomorrow because you don't feel like it. But maybe later.

[hushicho]

Or even to extend the simile a bit, it can even be -- in some cases -- like having all the books in a series, but the next book hasn't been released yet. And it does take time between books, for authors to finish with the next story, for them to edit it and get it ready for publication...so if you're not done with something but aren't ready to continue it, maybe it's best to just think of it as a story you've finished to a point, but which you're not ready to continue to the next volume yet.

[iddqd]

I think given enough time you will have a distinct feeling about whether it's time to let go. Some excellent advice here is to start working with short stories. This way, you get to settle comfortably in a style you will naturally develop, iron out the process, and never get stuck with a story that seemed so cool two years ago, but now feels flat.

[bouncyegg]

I like this advice. It's so easy to get wrapped up in view counts and subs as a measure of personal success that it can take away from the joy of making comics.

I see some comics getting instant success (which some deserve and some have me scratching my head), but I like to think that's the exception to the rule. At least that's what I tell myself.

http://tapastic.com/series/thebouncyegg

[genjiOtori]

If you're a starter you should definitely begin with short stories.
When I started I did nothing but 8-20 pages stories. It helped me develop a feeling how to write stories with given page numbers and how to work with the medium comic (paneling, reading flow, drawing emotions and the right anatomy and perspective). If you do that for several years and feel confident with your workflow, you can start with bigger stories, always improving step by step.
It's a great feeling to complete a story and in retrospect you see what you accomplished and how you developed! If you leave things unfinished you feel like you did nothing (like finishing a story with 8 pages feels more satisfactory than having one unfinished with 20).

[Tweekling]

I have quit probably... 3 comic series before I cam on Tapastic and that sucked. I started this one I'm doing now hoping I'd stick with it and ended up working on the planning stages for 4 years with my gf and decided I could NOT give up so now I'm here and things are going well.

What made me quit my first one is that I just didn't care anyone. It was a fan comic and I was only doing it for fans who treated me like shit so I quit. That made sense. The second I quit because I just got too depressed to draw. I've considered going back to it, but it's just a mess I can't focus on right now. I also gave up on a 3rd that never got off the ground. And honestly I'm glad I gave up on them because they were going nowhere and I finally found a comic I am super excited to make. If you're not absolutely thrilled to make your story I think it's hard to get other people to be thrilled too. Have fun, be yourself and all that. Find what feels right. If it's anguish to draw then there isn't much of a point because it'll show in your artwork. Feel those feelins'

[Menbung]

I just remember something that master Moebius said once, when he did L'Homme est-il bon? probably a little before that he changed his view on making comics, he said that comic artists try not to spend a lot of time on a comic page, they do em' quickly, without too much details so they can finish em' fast. Since comic artists are paid by page, the more pages you can produce in the less amount of time, the more money you make.

Well, he did the opposite, he spent a lot of time on pages, making em full with details, he was not makin' comics to make a living, he was making comic pages to go beyond livin'.

Maybe he didn't worry about making money out of his comics, and was doing art because art was his life. I think if you have a similar mindset quitting is not an option, is not about I spent this time doing this and I earned this, I should quit coz I didn't make what I thought I would... If you find that comic making is not for you coz u aren't making money, then move and do something else, if you find yourself doing comics despite not making any, then by all means continue, coz it could mean that you love making comics =] . And doing what you love isn't what we all should strive for?

Oo.oO

[lyon]

I definitely used to be the kind of person to just make stuff up as I went in terms of stories, and I would always wind up painting myself into a little corner where I didn't know how to continue. Plotting things out gives you a more focused idea of what you're doing, and gives you some nice milestones to reach for, keep you motivated ("can't wait to get to drawing this scene", for example)