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Should I start a webcomic?

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jeph:
The sloppiness is distracting to look at and the strips are much bigger than they need to be.

Of course, I say the same thing looking back at my first couple hundred comics.

Poser:
Cheers for the comments...
I may make the background less sloppariffic... that's probably the main fault at the moment...

but hey I'll keep making em... Cheers again!

Shishio:
Well, it seems you've already decided, which makes my response too late, but I would have told you to not worry about what others think and do what you want to do.

HFrankenstein:
Shishio brings up a point that I should have brought up earlier, and so I will now take full credit for it.

Ahem, seriously, though, an extremely important thing to keep in mind when working in any kind of entertainment medium (which is basically what you are considering) is that you should produce content that pleases yourself above all else.  Once you start trying to conform to what the consumers/readers want, you'll start to become resentful and frustrated, and your work will deteriorate.

Frustration is another thing that you're going to have to be ready for.  Odds are, your comic is not going to be popularly successful.  Very few ever break the hundred-reader mark, much less a thousand or ten thousand.  Most people get into comics for the fame, but the truth is, the fame is very likely not going to come.  I do not have a successful comic.  My readership might be in the 60-70 range at the outside, and for most of the comic's history, it was barely above 20.  For years, I let that get to me, and my update resolve plummeted as a result.  These days, I've finally stopped worrying about it.  I still make an effort to grow my readership, but I no longer let it consume me.  I do my comic because it's a good creative outlet, which is something that I need as someone who works in the corporate world.

And that brings us back to our original point: your comic is for you.  Please yourself.  If it so happens that it pleases a huge number of people at the same time, then more power to you.  It can be a goal, but it cannot be the goal.

Goals you want to have:
- Entertain yourself
- Grow as an artist
- Grow as a writer

Define success in terms of those goals, rather than in terms of readership, and you'll find yourself enjoying the work - and it will be work, about twelve hours on top of the normal forty that I put in at my job in my case - that much more.

One last thing: never complain about your lack of readership in your news posts.  It looks pathetic, and it makes people perceive your comic as unpopular, driving them away.

Poser:
thank you two VERY much for that point... I always try to do things for me rather than other people and im glad you reminded me of that... I already strive to do the two first points you made, i.e.
- Entertain yourself
- Grow as an artist

It makes me happy to know that others enjoy what i enjoy :)

once again thanks, especially hfrankenstein :) I will always bear that in mind whether or not i do make a webcomic :)

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