How To Avoid Having A Pile of Dead Webcomics
This also means how to avoid rebooting a comic several times as well. As a former Reboot Queen, I thought I would post this for new webcomic creators or even ones whoโve been at it a while and are just feeling kind of uncertain about their work.
I actually posted this on a forum first, but thought someone here might also find it useful. XP Note that these are not unspoken rules or anything! First and foremost, do what you feel you need to! Everyone learns in their own way.
1: At the beginning, aim shorter. If youโre just getting into webcomics, try some experimental one-shots first. Itโs the comics with no end in sight (or an ending waaayyy too out of sight) that are more likely to be left unfinished. If your projects involve characters or plotlines you REALLY want to use again, you can always leave them open-ended to continue them, or just move on to your grand, epic project after getting the hang of things a bit first. XP Itโs just better to start out kind of slow and learn your strengths and weaknesses. Or even if youโre not new to comics, this is still a good way to experiment.
2: NEVER start a comic on a sudden inspiration. You want to make an art or some short comics when this happens, cool, but what seems great to you one month may seem kinda lame the next. I mean, sure, we all have moments where weโre not as interested in our comics, but if you pick subjects you truly love, it makes it easier to plow through those downer moments. XP Heck, this advice can go for ANY sort of project.
3: If possible, avoid rebooting old chapters because of amateur art/writing. If you absolutely need to for publishing reasons or to change some plot elements, then do what you must, but doing this can REALLY slow things down. That old art/writing may make your eyes bleed, but remember that most readers really donโt mind and even enjoy seeing an artist grow.
4: Even with a longer series, have an ending in sight. Again, kind of related to tip 1. Basically, unless youโre making a comic strip or slice of life or something, make it possible to reach the end of your comic in your lifetime! Consider trimming unnecessary bulk from your story.
5: Donโt let readersโ opinions sway you! I donโt mean ignore helpful constructive criticism, I mean people who question how a character acts, or say โI hope this doesnโt happen!โ or anything that might be making you second guess parts of your story. I actually spazzed out and changed an entire character because people were considering her too โMary Sueโ, and a lot of the reboots I made were partially influenced by reader opinions as well! Make the story YOU want to make, donโt worry about your characters being cliched (heck, even if they are), or people having a different opinion of your characters than you expected. Stay the course! XP
Though also remember that itโs okay to have unfinished webcomics. They helped you learn and are still art, so they were worth the effort.^^
How To Avoid Having A Pile of Dead Webcomics - MY NEW THOUGHTS
So I made that original post way back in 2016, and while I still mostly stand by a lot of that advice for avoiding rebooting a webcomic a ton of times, or starting a new webcomic and then immediately dropping it, my opinions have also changed a bit, and since people still repost this, I thought Iโd set the record straight so hopefully no one overthinks starting a webcomic as a result of some old Tumblr post of mine.
At this point, I say if you have a passion webcomic project that youโre dying to make, whether itโs a huge epic or not, and whether youโre an amateur or not, just make it. With webcomics, the only way youโll figure out your writing strengths and improve your art/comicking is by doing, and it only makes sense to work on the story youโre currently obsessed with. Avoiding the project you really want to do will probably only stifle you and kill your motivation.
As much as I find it ridiculous that I rebooted one webcomic three times and hate how much time I wasted doing that, I also know I had to learn by doing, so perhaps no matter what it wouldโve had to play out that way. I just dropped that past advice to try and help people avoid needless reboots for the wrong reasons, as my reboots were in part for the wrong reasons.
Now Iโm going to go over my past pointers with my current thoughts-
โ1: At the beginning, aim shorter.โ I think this is good advice, but only if you want to do some experiments beforehand so you go in with more of an idea of what youโre doing, or if you have some shorter story ideas you think would be fun to do first. However, if youโre just too into your BIG ideaโฆthen just make that. Youโll enjoy yourself more and youโll learn your strengths and weaknesses either way. If you reboot it later, then you reboot it. Thatโs webcomics. :P
โ2: NEVER start a comic on a sudden inspiration.โ I still stand by not starting a BIG webcomic you just recently became inspired to do, but thatโs because I personally have a very fickle brain that can be totally into one idea for a couple of months, and then all of a sudden I wonder what the hell I was thinking. XD But that advice was really only for people with similar mindsets.
I also now say to make as much art or writing as you want for it while youโre into the idea. Nothing at all wrong with riding your newfound inspiration and at least getting it out of your system! Itโll also probably help you decide how much youโre really into it or if itโs just a passing fancy. And then if you start the webcomic and end up dropping it early on anyway? Oh well. Any practice is good practice.
โ3: If possible, avoid rebooting old chapters because of amateur art/writing.โ I mostly stand by this when it comes to rebooting because of art (unless you have no choice because of publishing reasons or really want to fix some errors or inconsistencies), because you will always look back and cringe a little, because youโll never stop improving!
Rebooting because of writing I understand more though. Sometimes you just outgrow concepts and storylines you came up with when you were in high school or just newer to writing, and you start to feel it. If you think itโs time for a change via reboot or new project, then follow your gut. Youโve learned more about your strengths and weaknesses and upgraded as a writer and artist! Itโs fine!
Also, as much as you may love your past OCs, donโt be afraid to try out making new ones! There is no โbetrayalโ in moving on from your old characters. Or you can even take old OCs and put them into new projects. There are no rules with webcomics, so make yourself happy!!
โ4: Even with a longer series, have an ending in sight.โ Another tip I still mostly stand by, only because it makes things easier to know where things are headed. But honestly, webcomics are slow-moving as heck and youโll have plenty of time to change things as you go, if you want to, and that includes the ending. I also like the idea of coming up with a list of multiple endings. Pretend your comic is like a video game with many possible end results depending on what path is taken. Even explore the โbadโ endings youโd never use just for the potential ideas that can come from it!
I also mention โtrimming unnecessary bulkโ in the storyโฆand that I consider more subjective now. I do recommend it if you feel like something is kinda boring to you and itโs possible to avoid it or speed it up in some way, but of course, some โunnecessaryโ moments are in fact, necessary. Moments of character bonding, quiet or atmospheric scenes, they can add a LOT to a story. It doesnโt always have to be โjump from point A to point Bโ.
โ5: Donโt let readersโ opinions sway you!โ Okay, this one I REALLY still stand by, because so much criticism can be based on personal taste. You really have to use your own judgement on whether someone is giving you criticism that you believe can actually help you improve, or if theyโre just wanting you to change your story/characters to what THEY want to see. If youโre writing a horror story, would you listen to advice from someone who hates horror? If you want to write a timid character, should you listen to someone who gets needlessly mad about timid characters and only accepts tough ones?
And those are my current thoughts as of 2026. My number one tip now isโฆjust make the webcomic. No webcomic, finished or unfinished, is a waste of time. Itโs all art.
