yknow, i think i figured out why it is i feel so bleak on days where i just cannot, for some reason, finish a comic. it’s bad enough when it is because i’ve been too busy, or things just got away from me, or i ran out of time — that’s just time management issues. Not being able to pull anything together after struggling for a large chunk of two days… that’s your creative process failing you.
Now, when i talk about the process failing, i’m not referring to some kind of cataclysmic end of the world kind of thing — it’s just writers block. Hardly earth shattering. I think that even i can take some modicum of comfort in the fact that I’ve done more than enough reasonably ok comics that it is something that will get past… it’s just that, when it does strike and you can’t get past it, it leaves you with this empty feeling that is hard to describe.
See, the experience of writing a comic and forming these things is, i think, different than reading them. I experience the comic through creating it, and when i can’t create it, and when the pieces just will not fall into place, it leaves me with this frustrating, depressing void that is very hard to describe. I used to think it was just me being all down and feeling crappy because i let people down and missed a deadline… but now that i think about it, i don’t think thats right. I think there is a palpable void where you should have yet another little chunk of this world you are trying to create — kind of like (but not really) when you are looking forward to a movie or a tv show, and when you see it is totally not what you expected and really disappoints you. The problem with being the creator is that there is no channel to switch to to find something else to fill that void.
Anyways, its all part of the ups and down of doing creative stuff for a living. If you suffer from the problem from time to time, this actually lists some very good ideas to help you get past it. Of course, there are no guarentees, and sometimes only time can fix the problem.
On that note, i need to get back to work 
- pirotunes: Brian Eno - Discreet Music -
as a reader, i actually wasn’t surprised to find that you were struggling with yesterday’s comic (or that you might be struggling with the next several). from what i can tell from megatokyo’s narrative trajectory of the last few weeks, the comic is heading towards a new set of complex inter-character dynamics and that the plot line is set to hit some key events; events that will lead to a whole set of narrative options for you.
so, it’s not surprising that your creative self (or your subconscious
has suddenly decided to say, “whoa, is this right? is this where we’re supposed to be heading? does this feel correct to me?” i think it’s a good thing actually, and that working through this brief halt in the action will make for a better story in the end.
just some thoughts.
celliot
When I start feeling stuck on something, what I do is always try something really different. If something is not right after hours trying to get it to work, chances are the big picture is at fault, not the details. So try taking off in another direction. Even if it does not work, you will have done something. For me nothing is worse then doing nothing, thats when the void fills me. I also think that stepping away and then asking why what you have does not work, instead of what do you change or add, is good. Heh, just trying to say more then me too.
I think you ought to resequence the inducers on your magnetic interlock chamber.
I must warn you, though: the resulting feedback loop could destabilize the subspace carrier-wave and result in a massive anti-space-time explosion!!
It has been made very clear from your words and through witnessing the updates on your site that you wish to live up to the expectations of others and as such you take great care so you do not disappoint your readers. The result of which is you have spent long periods of time crafting your story as well as your art to deliver to your audience your final product. With all the effort you have placed into your project and your work, especially when coupled with your desire to meet expectations, it seems to me and I am quite sure a few others feel as well that these elements have been creating a fairly strong pressure on you to perform both artistically and creatively as a storyteller and artist at a high level you deem acceptable. The mere fact that you value your readers and push yourself to deliver is both greatly appreciated as a fan of your work and admired as an artist who draws for fun (kind of
Borderline profound comic creative process stuff - this could pass for a rant column if you wanted to use it as such. Reading is definately a different experience. We’re used to the next episode, the next comic book, whatever, just being there when it’s time. Behind the scenes stuff might show us what the actors are doing, or the special effects guys, or the artists, but the actual writing is usually far enough back in the murky mists that it seems like it’s just there by magic, as regular as the sun rises every morning. Sometimes you hear from the writers about the horrible block they had to work past or how long it took to figure out how to get out of the corner they wrote themselves into with the season finale cliffhanger, but never until long after the epsiode has aired and you know it worked out alright. Writers must always worry about “what happens next”, but only in bufferless webcomics are they right with the audience in wondering what happens next after the CURRENT strip. But hey, once stuff sinks into the archives, it’s all forgotten. This DPD was because of a convention, that one because of writer’s block, another because you had to take the cat to the vet, it all blends together and the reasons don’t matter anymore.
I very much know where you are coming from, which not being able to “switch the channel” to something else when your creative process fails you. This has happened to me on countless occasions, as I doing my best to create my own story little by little. Even though I don’t even have much of an audience of people reading my story, I still feel as though I have let myself and others down every time I am unable to work or just do not have the motivation to put out something that I know will be worth reading.
Believe it or not, your dedication to MT has seriously been a very large inspiration to me, as I am working toward putting out a bit more of the story at least 2-3 times a week, just as you are doing with MT.
All those who work creatively and value that creativity will have times like these, but all we can do is bow our head, and smile that at least tomorrow is another day to try to do what we love to do: create.
wow its been a really long time since ive posted a comment here
well any ways i just wanna say yea i really hate when i get stuck on some especially if im trying to draw, ohh wait ive been stuck since the day i picked up a pencil 
but any ways i must say todays commic i think is quite possibly at least in my mind one of the best.
well ja ne
All your comics are great, and for anyone who’s ever worked on anything which didn’t require just following direct instructions knows exactly what you mean about writer’s block (writer’s block on a maths project isn’t fun). Keep it up, and ignore the idiots who don’t understand that you can’t just work dispite writer’s block.
Warmth!
If you’re so horribly blocked on story stuff that you just can’t move forward, maybe you can “change the channel” by drawing an OSE. To the extent fans don’t like DPDs (and they *do* like them occasionally, just not too often), it’s because they feel they came to the site expecting a comic and got a single pretty picture. An OSE with a pinch of plot-like substance and maybe even a punchline would likely be less objectionable.
Know you have/like cats. It seems they had a DPD at Twolumps (http://twolumps.keenspace.com/d/20050513.html) a little while back.
I sometimes get really bad writer’s block…It also happens when I’m trying to think of a good picture to draw (er…that’s artist’s block, not writer’s block). It sucks when that happens, doesn’t it? I love your art by the way–this is my first time visiting, after reading Megatokyo (really good, by the way, very funny). I hope you’re able to get over your writer’s block, artist’s block, and whatever else in the future, and I hope to be able to read your manga again soon (I’m broke and can’t afford volume two right now…curses)!
Ah yes, a reminder that Fred is a member of the human race. =) Really, I understand what you’re saying — you are not so much concerned with disappointing the audience (though that is always a concern) as you are disappointing yourself; you know what you can do and wish you could do it RIGHT NOW. It’s one of the problems with deadlines. Thanks for the wonderful link — may actually get my novel up and about.