Why continue a story when you don't have viewers?

[StevenDacasin]

I do it because I have this idea that im going to make something out of these comics. Its also fun to do to.

[joannekwan]

I do it because I really do see my characters as people who could or could have existed so I want to do them justice by completing their stories.

Also it's nice to have a completed body of work under your belt either for a portfolio or for your own self-satisfaction.

[PurpleGround]

Wow. that's a lot of response. But yes, basically, I believe each artist has a story of their own, whether its fandom or self-created universe. For me, I have that characters I really want to bring to live. I want them to start talking and start interacting with each other as if they have their own minds. I have a story to tell about this characters, about their development, their struggle in adventures and finally achieving something. Thus I started creating comic. Yes, it would feel empty if its not getting attention. As said by saeedfaridzadeh, we are generally "broken" people who seek validation from people. Keep going. Eventually people will stumble upon you and started following. Stan Lee once said in his interview, if he like that kind of stuff he draw, surely someone out there will have the same interest as him. You just need to expand your reach to other audience. =)

[mariusthered]

Comics for a lot of artists can work as therapy in a sense.

This is a truth ( so trust it to come from one of my comics biggest fans) .

My comic Talesfromeswipecity has a low number of subscribers ( hugs to all) but I know I get more people who read it from the shadows so to speak and never like or comment. I have been doing my comic for almost three years now and writing it for a lot longer.
It is not popular and some people don't like my art style on the comic as I use 3d backgrounds mostly. I have even lost money doing it but I keep going because quite honestly if I wasn't doing it I think I would crack up.

Writing and drawing Swipe city has got me through some very bad times of my life, times when I needed to get rid of all of my rage and frustration, I could have very easily crawled into a booze bottle and stayed there, instead I created a comic. and I will let you in to a swipe city secret , the first person killed in my comic represents a person who gave me lots of heart ache, but that's the fun thing about having your own comic you get yo kill off the people you hate.

even if I had to come off the internet and draw my ideas on napkins for nobody to see I would still write swipe city because it helps me control my inner demons and keeps me as a "nice person" to the rest of the world.

so yes viewers come and go but the story will be waiting for them.

[demthorshie]

I agree with you wholeheartedly on that! And I think Tales From Swipe City is very underrated, I am a subscriber and am very much enjoying the ride so far btw xD!

Writing and drawings comics is something I got heavily in to back in highschool while I was dealing with a number of health issues. I was too ill to really get out and do things back then so reading and creating webcomics was my only real outlet. It has been a mega stress relief component in my life overall and I think if you're passionate about something, you would want keep at it for the sake of wanting to do it I guess.

[kazukitakamura126]

Making comics is something I also enjoy. When i took a l break from it for a month for personal reasons I always felt like something was missing. I draw because i like to and it gives my life meaning. There will always be at least one reader who follows your work no matter how popular or underrated it is. You have to socialize with other comic artist and general artists. My new years's resolution for this year is advertise smarter not harder. Meaning being more social with other artists, doing art trades and seeking art opportunities outside of comics.

[mg78]

why continue with my story if no one is following it?

when this happen, when this question came back, when we become victim about the "need 2 be celeb" "demon"... i, or u if u acept this idea, we have to go back to the origin and ask "why i draw?"
i draw to express myself, sometime to live or live-again some good emotions or to exorcise some bad feelings. its not for others. it's for me.
none like? amen! it's quite sad, but the fuel/reason about why i draw it s the wish to draw my emotion, NOT the will to be famous or got viewers. imho this answer ll destroy that stupid question in a moment.

i mean... everybody love be liked, no doubt. and it s damn "effective". when we learn this feeling, when we learn to be apreciated ...its damn good!!! but this feeling (be apreciated) too many times blackout the original "why to draw" and here u are.

pursue the way to own many viewers its ok, but it must not be the main reason to draw.

last thing:
this problem it very complicated.
it's not easy give all the reasons or help, but this imho its a good start to save ourself.

[sophiejantak]

I think I can offer a perspective from the other side of things... as someone who DID give up when my comics didn't get any subscribers... twice.

And it basically just came down to... making comics isn't my passion. Sure, I love drawing, and at one point in my life drawing comics really helped me, but that was years ago. And if I'm being honest, the only reason I started drawing comics again was because I found this site and I thought it would be easy to become "famous" (and maybe make money).

My passion is writing, and I'll continue to do that even if I never become famous, just because I love it. If you're really feeling discouraged maybe you need to take a step back and really think about why you're doing this. Is it because you truly love it? Then you'll persevere, and you'll get better, and hopefully one day you'll have a lot of viewers. If it's just to be famous or to make a living with it, then maybe that's something you need to consider.

Also, I thought this subject was addressed brilliantly by a youtuber:

"All art does have an audience, even if it's just an audience of 1. You. If you worry too much about getting a huge following you may not feel as fulfilled by your art as you could. And if that's all you care about then even your audience of 1 won't enjoy the finished product." (Magicturtle643, "Art Doesn't Need an Audience!")

[AshKetchup]

My comic is quite random, so I understand if I don't have many viewers or subscribers reading it. But I still have fun making it, and that's pretty much all the motivation I need for making comics

That and forcing my friends to read it whenever a new episode comes out XD

[davidechoe13]

I keep doing it because i know i'll get better. writing and drawing is something that i have decided that i am going to do. I think everyone, and i do mean everybody who writes or does comics has feelings like these. I'm like the most ridiculously motivated person that i know! But in the end it will be those people who keep pushing on no matter what that become successful, there's work involved yeah, you might have to change a few things, but you'll have kept going.

It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.
- Confucius ,

[iddqd]

Just remember: everyone is famous to 14 people on the Internet. If you're there, then you're doing fairly well. If you want it to get better, my take on it is you need a sizeable chunk of material (let's say, 50 pages or more), and effort put into advertising, attending cons, and social media presence. I have been working on my comic for 2.5 years now, and I have something like 70 viewers here on Tapastic. Is it worth the effort? You tell me. One thing I know - when I reach a good number of pages, I plan to dump some cash into advertising, but before then, I have to sit tight and keep working to improve my craft. I think there's a reason all the famous cartoonists have balding heads.

[illizard]

I think, it's more "If to stop" question, rather than "why continue". I've had the same doubts not a long ago (actually, when introduced my comic here, on Tapastic) and there's the answer I gave myself -

Ok, Lizard, you faced the horrible truth - your comic, probably, isn't great. People see it and walk away. And it's time to consider, what is your comic to you. Is it just a Hobby? Are you doing it for your own amusement, and it's no different from a papercrafts or glueing models? But if you concerned with readership, it's probably not just to kill some time. So, Is it a business? You hope to have some kind of income from cartooning, so you invest into your comic - time, knowledge, actual money (domain, server space, promotion, maybe printing costs) and you want to get something out of your investment. And when you see that you don't have what it takes to go (semi)professional - possibly you should stop. Unless - you consider your comic as a School. Your comic might become your very own Center for Cartoon Studies (or Kubert school - depends what kind of comics you are into). You still investing time, money and effort. But the knowledge and experience is what you get in return. And then you should stop only if you don't wanna learn.

I still want to learn a new things, and I like my character and I believe in it's potential - so I choose to carry on. =)

[illizard]

If you just stop, and the opportunity to advertise comes up, you won't have anything to show for it then.

Exactly! I couldn't agree more - any particular comic can get a small amount of attention, but the undrawn comic gets no attention at all.

[insomniascrawl]

It's frustrating putting time and work into something and feeling like there's no payoff, yeah, but for me I love writing, I love art. I wanted to write something that would grow into the kind of thing I really wanted to read when I was younger, or really needed to hear when I was younger. Even if 1 or 2 people are the only ones who takes something away from my stuff even if it's just a chuckle, I'm alright.

When you want to quit, remember why you started. Tends to help me.

[Hellicat]

Sometimes we think about it the wrong way, like making money or becoming famous. The more I get myself on this wonderful comunity, the more I just want to look for friends or people who I can share ideas with, I know, maybe there are people who do this for a living, but, you can always enjoy it even if it's a job, right?

Love to see this post became more than I expected

Cheers!

[ToonDoctor]

I know this will sound harsh but... you just started your comic less than a week ago. If this is all that it takes to discourage you, understanding that there are thousands of comics here, established, competing for the same viewers, then maybe you should stop now.

It's too early in the game for you to make such a call, unless your heart isn't in it.

@sophiejantak said it differently but if it's a struggle for you now, stop before you are too disappointed.

I know that this is not the advise that you want. You'd probably rather have me have pity for you and encourage you to keep at it. I usually do for other creators, but not for someone who has like just a few pages and has been around less than a week.

If it had been a year and you were in such a situation, my reaction would be different. But you haven't even started...

You have a distinctive voice but you don't seem to have the patience to let it develop.

[Hellicat]

Oh no, you misunderstand me, this is not my case. I'm full of
ＤＥＴＥＲＭＩＮＡＴＩＯＮ, just wanted to create this topic to encourage others with my own joy, and of course, the experience of others that have more time making comics!

; ) i'm not offended, but animated. Also thanks for checking my work

[PurpleGround]

When you want to quit, remember why you started. Tends to help me.

HA!! this is my reminder words to my self too!!

[Vikiro_Hop]

I don't think any creator should look at any project is the one that is going to get them where they want to be. BUT there are so many comics that I could tell had a slow start that grew into something amazing. Basically I know that if I get tired of laboring away with one story or comic that I can shift my energy to another. I think a lot of people get too invested in their series and don't allow them to grow the way they should and get stuck in a rut.

I've made a lot of strides with my art since starting my comic, but I am constantly frustrated that my comic doesn't have any real substance (it's a gag a day of sorts) I continue It mostly at this point because it's a challenge and all that I have time for.

[Doubtcent]

Well the hardest part of making anything is starting. However if you're past that, the second hardest part in creating is just sticking with it, even if your number count is low.

For if you don't start, you can never find out where you are, and you can never improve. And you can never improve if you don't keep moving forward.

My art used to look like this:

Just a total train wreck looking back on it. I didn't know how bad I was until I got better, and I didn't get better until I kept going.
Now I make stuff like this:

So if you persevere, you will find yourself getting better if you put enough effort in getting better.
I'm not anywhere close to perfect, but at least I can spot where I need improvement.