TWCL

[bulyard]

So it seems that lately--no matter how much I write, mull, rewrite, and thumbnail--once I've inked and posted a strip I have what i'm going to call punchline remorse. I groan and realize that if I just rewrote it slighty it would have worked so much better.

I understand that this is going to be a natural reaction to creative output, but I was wondering if any of you have had the same feeling and if so how you have dealt with it, either before you have posted your strip or after.
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http://www.hillofbeanscomic.com

[vulpeslibertas]

Shake it off, suck it up, and realize that 90% of what you're going to do you're going to regret. You've got to focus on the good you did do, not the good you didn't. Thomas Jefferson screwed around a lot, but then he also wrote some of the greatest political literature the world has ever known. Einstein made breakthroughs in science unequaled today, but he also came up with the moronically stupid Cosmological Constant. Patton all but ruined his career because he couldn't keep his mouth shut, but then also helped liberate half of Europe from the Nazis. Find yourself some people you admire, and compare their faults to yours.

The best bet for a writer is to develop a selective memory. When stroking your ego, only remember the good things; when improving your work, only remember the bad. A good artist does both in fair measure. If you don't do both, you'll either end up expertly depressed or cheerfully incompetent.

I also found it helps to remember that if you can see the defects in your work, then you are improving. Only stagnant artists and egotists see no faults with their art.

While there's a lot of good in re-writing, you can get stuck in the infinite re-write loop, especially after you've inked and colored. It never hurts to give it a few rough drafts before you put ink to paper, though.

Another great assist is to find a pool of like-minded artists who can review your work and give you an external calibration of it before you publish it online.

Remember that your work is not you. It is only a thing that you made. If the art sucks, it's the art sucks, not you. This is especially help advice to remember when you are being critiqued by others.
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[Dutch]

If you do this long enough you might find that you almost... almost... stop worrying so much about it.

Every now and then you'll see one go up and think 'I could have done it this way instead', and that's all good. It's maybe not too late to change it, at least until it's online for a day or so.

But looking back and thinking 'should have written that one like this' doesn't work because those are too far gone. That's how you were writing back then, not how you're writing now. Looking back and wanting to change things doesn't help.
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[bulyard]

vulpeslibertas wrote:

I also found it helps to remember that if you can see the defects in your work, then you are improving. Only stagnant artists and egotists see no faults with their art.

Great point... this is going up on the wall where I work.

Thanks guys, it's nice to know this is a common problem.
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http://www.hillofbeanscomic.com

[Gual-kun]

Well, I can't say it hasn't happened to me. I suppose we can learn to handle that with the time.
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[ewomack]

Work as far ahead as you can, that gives words and concepts more time to sink in. I seem to regret more when I'm cranking stuff out just in time to make (self-imposed) update deadlines. I've gone back and re-edited quite a few comics just prior to posting. Of course, keeping up is hard enough, but working ahead is harder still... but if you can get there it's worth it...
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Ed Womack

[Casual Notice]

I used to make my long-suffering wife read my comics before I flattened and reduced (while I could still change stuff). That ay I could be sure that the joke wasn't just funny to me at the time I came up with it.
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What I lack in sincerity, I make up for in sarcasm.
S*P*Q*R

[Wild Horse]

Maybe sleep on your work before you finalise it? I don't often have the patience but it makes a difference.
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[sandy__]

I get that a lot. Certainly it helps to write the strip a couple of days before you draw it, or at least the day before, so it can kind of sink in and be improved. But there's also a danger of over-thinking it, you can put too many twists in, and it becomes gibberish. Sometimes with strips I don't really like the next day, if I look at them a month or two later, I actually like again. I find the trick is not losing that bit you found funny in the first place.
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http://www.crowbarbenson.com/

[bunnypandemic]

Don't question it so much. Be confident.
I'm sure it was great at the time and it still is.
For it to be perfect, you would have to rewrite everything forever.
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Visit www.bunnypandemic.com ()()
Our cuteness will be infectitious. (. .)

[axonite]

I've occasionally made changes to a strip before posting it, if I thought of some sort of improvement. Every now and then I've even completely redrawn a strip. (For example - What I drew first for Oct. 9 2008, and what went up that day!)

If I think of an improvement afterwards, I'll just file it away for possible use in a future strip. Or if it's only a minor change, draw it anyway as an extra strip.
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Z7 - PodWarp 1999

[TonyDiGerolamo]

I sometimes have the same problem. I would say, get ahead on your deadlines, finish your strips early and then set them aside. Look at them before you post and then you can tweak again.

[microbrien]

Writing is at once the easiest and the most difficult thing in the world. Unlike, say, drawing, anyone can sit down, throw something together, and no matter what they actually wrote, it looks just as good as anyone else's writing.

The best advice I can give you is to write in batches. Sit down one day and just pump out as many jokes as you can. Edit as you go, sure, but just focus on quantity, not creating finished work.

Then let it sit for a day or two. Not so long that you forget what inspired the joke, but not so short that you're still caught up in the excitement of thinking of it.

Then tweak it. Edit it. Ask yourself, "what would make this funnier?" and think about why. Ask what makes what you wrote funny in the first place. Consider that maybe you've got a great idea, but if you found a way to be more surprising or create more incongruity, it would be better.

Here's an example of something I wrote then tweaked.

DRAFT 1:
Panel 1]
Character A: Is it wrong that I think my girlfriend is prettier when she's all wet?

Panel2]
Character B: I wouldn't necessarily say "wrong."

Panel 3]
Character A: What if I only want to have sex with her in the shower?


It's not awful, but it's not very good either. The joke is kind of telegraphed and there isn't a ton of incongruity or surprise. After a while, I came up with this.

DRAFT 2:
Panel 1]
Character A: Is it wrong that I think my girlfriend is prettier when she cries?

Panel2]
Character B: I wouldn't necessarily say "wrong."


Panel 3]
Character A: Is it wrong to pee on my girlfriend to make her prettier?

Will it go down in history as the greatest comic ever? No. Is it better than the first draft? I think so.

So much of writing jokes is leading the audience in one direction--setting up their expectation for one, very specific idea, and then giving them something else at the very last moment.

If it helps, think of it like throwing a curveball in baseball. The idea is that the hitter thinks the pitch is going right down the middle...and then suddenly, they're swinging for the fences but the ball isn't there any more. It's somewhere else.

Writing in specifics helps too. Generally speaking, the more specific you are, the better. A punchline about Pizza Hut will land better than a joke about "cheap food." Similarly, a punchline about the fact that they currently offer a special meal box that includes a pizza, cheesy sticks, and cinnamon sticks--which is basically just a $15 box of bread will land better than a joke about "Pizza Hut."

And sometimes you just have to be okay with the fact that sometimes a concept is funny, but it's not really a joke. You obviously want to work to write a complete joke, but sometimes you just make a comic and it's just a funny idea. That can be okay too.

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I write at cn-comics!
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[raines80]

I have this problem every time I finalize my strip. I spend hours rewriting and redrawing panels that should be quick in and out jobs. I make my wife read everything to make sure it makes sense and has at least a small hint of humor.

No matter how much preparation I do.... I always have regret at the end.
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[microbrien]

raines80 wrote:

I have this problem every time I finalize my strip. I spend hours rewriting and redrawing panels that should be quick in and out jobs. I make my wife read everything to make sure it makes sense and has at least a small hint of humor. No matter how much preparation I do.... I always have regret at the end.

Maybe you need to focus more on how you feel about it. I don't know. I'm not always 100% happy with everything I produce, but I would expect you should be very proud of your work at least some of the time.


I write at cn-comics.com!