If you’ve been making or reading webcomics for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with the term ‘hiatus’. Webcomics go on hiatus when things come up for the creator, either on or offline, that impact their ability to keep updating the story.

Sometimes a hiatus is a short, planned break, and afterwards the comic comes back! Sometimes, they last a little longer, and unfortunately, sometimes comics never return to updating afterwards– which has given the term ‘hiatus’ a bit of a bad rap among webcomic readers.

But it doesn’t have to be! And today we’re going to talk about it!

Have you had to put your comic on hiatus, or taken a scheduled break?

Our hosts tell us a bit about why, their thought process, and how they approached it!

Some common reasons for hiatus:

• Content upload is faster than production and creator is not able to keep up so takes a break to build up a buffer.
• Burnout from simply pushing too hard
• Planned break at the end of a chapter or season
• Physical injury to recover

Did you post any kind of filler content during the break? A side story, guest art, or other comic-related art? How did you go about choosing or soliciting that?

Fan art/call for guest art, have a scheduled interlude of art/mini comic that takes the pressure off of the main project (maybe it has a lessened update schedule) post behind the scenes stuff, link to other places you’re hosting work. Planning is essential for something like this. Make sure you ask in advance so you have time to gather submissions.

What would you like other creators or comic readers to know/understand about hiatuses?

Remember this is for you. So let it be a positive experience for you and do what you need to do to keep it that way.

There’s a mindset to it, associated with the hustle, that creators shouldn’t take breaks when they have time to create. A lot of creators get stuck in this, thinking that free time isn’t to be ‘wasted’ on breaks, but on the constant productivity to get the project done.

Breaks are part of working and as creators, it’s essential to have this in our work life too.

DO NOT FEAR THE HIATUS. It is your friend and a tool in your ever-growing toolbox.

And don’t forget: buffers are friends. Not food.

----

Episode Release Date: November 9, 2022

Episode Credits:

Kristen Lee (@feathernotes) - she/they, ghostjunksickness.com lunarblight.com

Renie Jesanis (@renieplayerone) - she/they, kateblast.com

Christina Major (@delphina2k) - she/her, sombulus.com

Ally Rom Colthoff (@varethane) - she/they, chirault.sevensmith.net wychwoodcomic.com

----

The Intro "DO IT (feat. Shia LaBeouf)", and the Outro "It's Good To See You Again!!", both by Adrianwave, have been used and modified in good faith under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Licensed. Edits include: Fade IN/OUT, and a repeat added to the beginning of "It's Good To See You Again!!". For more information on this creative commons use, please reference https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.