Do cartoonists get vacations?

Odd1 · Post by **Odd1** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 6:57 am

Ok as you can tell I'm pretty new at comic making. I love making my comic, but I don't enjoy creating pages far in advance. However I <b>do</b> like summer vacation

Does everyone just quit making comics and take off for vacation when you're off from work/school, do you stay home to make strips, or do you make and upload 6 weeks of comics ahead of time?

- Liz

Psiogen · Post by **Psiogen** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 7:11 am

You can stop for a little while whenever you want, as long as you tell everyone beforehand. Many people do this over Christmas break. One thing you can do while you're on vacation is have guest artists fill in, like I did in mid-january.
As for a summer vacation, I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing. Me, I plan on doing *more* comics during the summer, since I'll have more free time to work on them.

Justinpie · Post by **Justinpie** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 12:22 pm

It's also probably a good idea to give a restart date, especially if your comic hasn't been around a very long time.

If you said "Returning March 20th," it shows you actually have a timeframe to get stuff up, but "Returning Soon" has a wishy-washy 'whatever' feel to it.

Loserz Erik · Post by **Loserz Erik** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 4:06 pm

I think the *best* way to take a vacation if you want a week or two off is to ask another artist or two to make guest strips for you that can fill the gaps while you're off from your own drawing.

But yeah, everybody needs a break now and then, but it's best not to take vacations for long periods of time or rapidly, because you can lose a lot of readers that way. I'm still just starting to rebuild the fanbase I had when my comic stopped for about two months.

RArcher · Post by **RArcher** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 9:05 pm

Yeah last X-mas I did a special of Gremlin X-mas cards... Bt I think upload ahead, get guest art to increase your "ahead time" and yeah tell people an exact date you will be back. Thats all folks... except maybe putting a little cartoon of a naked lady jumping out of a cake when you return.

Odd1 · Post by **Odd1** » Tue Mar 05, 2002 7:08 am

On 2002-03-04 16:06, Loserz Erik wrote:
I think the *best* way to take a vacation if you want a week or two off is to ask another artist or two to make guest strips for you that can fill the gaps while you're off from your own drawing.

What about epic comics like mine? Ok so Paperbug isn't really epic since I think every page is understandable on it's own... but I do fallow a story line.

That's why I've been thinking about putting together a dozen mini-strips (or so) starring my characters in "chibi" form. That could fill the gap and be fast to .

Loserz Erik · Post by **Loserz Erik** » Tue Mar 05, 2002 8:41 am

Well even an epic comic can be temporarily interuppted for guest strips. In fact, those sometimes make the most interesting guest strips.

Zubkavich · Post by **Zubkavich** » Tue Mar 05, 2002 8:54 am

With my story being split into 20-24 page 'Chapters', I've been giving myself about a week off between chapters to rest and build up a buffer of pages ahead.

Odd1 · Post by **Odd1** » Tue Mar 05, 2002 11:34 am

On 2002-03-05 08:54, Zubkavich wrote:
With my story being split into 20-24 page 'Chapters', I've been giving myself about a week off between chapters to rest and build up a buffer of pages ahead.

My comic works in chapters too. Chapter 1 is going to be between 21 and 26 pages. I don't need much time to draw, but writing is not my strong point... Making scripts for my chapters take an extremely long time for me. Maybe it's best I take a short break between chapters? I guess readers would rather wait a week or two than read an unprepared chapter... Right?

ZOMBIE USER 7833 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 7833** » Tue Mar 05, 2002 11:57 am

Maybe, but re-building your fan base between chapters will suck donkeys. It's a price to pay, and it can be done, but it'll take a lot longer to get any kind of huge following. Not that I have any following whatsoever, but theoretically, I think I know that much about the principle.

*I* personally would take quality over quantity, but then mass society is impatient. So it's your call really.

Zubkavich · Post by **Zubkavich** » Tue Mar 05, 2002 12:47 pm

On 2002-03-05 11:57, JasterW wrote:
Maybe, but re-building your fan base between chapters will suck donkeys.

I think it's just a matter of clear communication. The Chapter breaks give people a chance to 'catch up' and you a chance to rest. As long as you make it extremely clear when you're starting the next part (and actually stick to it), people can handle the week 'off'.

My readership's been growing steadily even though I've taken these Chapter Breaks. My traffic for February was tremendous, even though one week of it I wasn't even updating.

Stinkywigfiddle · Post by **Stinkywigfiddle** » Tue Mar 05, 2002 3:08 pm

I think that is probably because your comic is super great.

RArcher · Post by **RArcher** » Wed Mar 06, 2002 3:25 am

I think another factor is how long does it take to make your comic daily... alot of people make this mistake if it takes a deceent amount of time
__________________________
DONT DO A DAILY STRIP!!!!!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
you'll burn yourself out.

ZOMBIE USER 7833 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 7833** » Wed Mar 06, 2002 7:21 am

DONT DO A DAILY STRIP!!!!!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
you'll burn yourself out.

Unless you have a big buffer to work with AND/OR the comic is really easy to draw AND/OR you just really have a lot of fun doing it. That's why I'm doing a daily strip right now. If i burn out? I guess I'd just drop to an easier schedule, 3-5 days a week instead of 7. No biggie, and by then people will have a much larger archive to go through, so they probably wouldn't mind as much. All in theory, mind you, I actually have no idea what I'm talking about here.

Loserz Erik · Post by **Loserz Erik** » Wed Mar 06, 2002 8:31 am

Yeah, the update schedule should adhere to whatever one is comfortable with. If a person can crank out 7 per week, power to them. But if you're just too busy to handle a constant update schedule, it's better to give yourself some slack during the week, often with the commonly used MWF schedule.

Zubkavich · Post by **Zubkavich** » Wed Mar 06, 2002 8:44 am

Agreed.

I think a lot of people get excited about doing a comic before they realize how much work it can be or what their schedule can realistically handle.

When I applied for my KeenSpace account, I used the waiting time to create a buffer of material so that I could stay on schedule and also see how many pages per week were realitic for me to produce. When I saw that 3 times a week would work well, I decided upon the M/W/F schedule.

Stay on time and stay ahead. People appreciate on time material and being consistent helps your audience grow.

Odd1 · Post by **Odd1** » Wed Mar 06, 2002 9:26 am

About having a big buffer- I find that if I create my comics too far ahead, I am deadly ashamed of them by the time they get online.

Take the ones running on my website right now. I drew them in Nov/Dec last year, and I was very close to doing them over again once my account finally got created in February. I guess I probably see my style changing faster than my readers will, but still I feel pretty silly.

- Liz

Loserz Erik · Post by **Loserz Erik** » Wed Mar 06, 2002 4:01 pm

I know how you feel, I don't really get my comics done far in advance, but I am oft-tempted to redo some of the older ones. I must resist because it's silly to assualt people with re-hashed material.

JD_Turbeville · Post by **JD_Turbeville** » Fri Mar 08, 2002 2:02 am

When I started my online comic last week, I made sure I was 1 month (or 13 comics) ahead.

When I look at them now, I think they look like a piece of crap, but they make me laugh. The 1st episode of NES HS was my 1st day on PSP ... lol

Anyways, if I took a break, it'd be because I am not gonna be updating on schedule or I'm actually on a trip somewhere. In that case, I'd let someone take over my site and make up some random BS with my characters to entertain the crowd. That'd work.

jt
http://comic.doomwhale.com

RArcher · Post by **RArcher** » Fri Mar 08, 2002 4:16 am

Yeah I run a daily strip and it does take a lot of time out of your time. I used to have a big buffer but I let it slip. Personal problems. Lucky my buffer was three months. I was still invloved in these problems when my buffer run out. So I forced myself on. I'm now out of the woods as such and am slowly devolping a buffer but at the moment my comic is suffering heavily. So the lesson is. unless you have a VERY good reason.

ALWAYS HAVE A BIG BIG BIG BUFFER!!!

Cause you never know what real life is going to throw at you.