The Casual Webcartoonist

April 24, 2010

Weekend smallish tips:Ergonomics!

Filed under: health — Tags: , , — crfh @ 4:01 pm

Be careful with your body. Believe me, I speak from experience.

Around 2003 I started experiencing acute pain in my right wrist. I tried ace bandages, neoprene gloves, creams, etc. It got worse and worse.

Finally, I had to admit I was getting to the point when I would not be able to make my strip anymore, and so I got a tablet. I also learned to mouse with my left hand, something that is not only annoying but also takes some while to get accustomed to.

You see, my problem was that I was shading with my mouse. That’s VERY movement-intensive. I’m happy to say that since I took those two simple measures, I no longer suffer from carpal tunnel. Or at least, I nipped it in the bud before it gave me a permanent injure that required surgery.

This is a pretty stupid thing to say in a blog like this, but I have seen it again and again. People, take care of your hands, especially the one you draw with. Most people in the world are extra careful with their eyes, well, it’s not so hard. I have stupidly injured myself doing everyday things, and I’m afraid it could have been avoided. I hear a lot of people saying they smashed their fingers using a hammer to hit a nail… why??? Why doesn’t anybody use pliers to hold the nail into place? Why do people keep peeling potatoes without holding them using a napkin? Why do people keep touching the iron to see if it’s already hot??? Okay I only did that once, gimme a break :P

Choose a chair you feel comfortable in. Allow yourself to put your feet up and prop back from time to time. You’ll spend a lot of time in your chair so consider it an investment. You don’t want to save on a chair and spend on a chiropractor.

Make sure your chair is at an appropiate level with your table. Do NOT force your wrist, either up or down, the straighter it is, the less damage you do. Consider wearing an ACE bandage while working, at least for a while (you can create an habit by that)

I have tested a lot of surfaces to run your mouse in, and so far nothing equals a straight sheet of normal printing paper. Yeah, mousepads suck, even those who have boobs. Sorry, Japan.

I recommend optical mouses, but I don’t recommend wireless ones. They’re not worth it, IMHO, they take too many batteries. Now, wireless keyboard is very useful, especially if you’re running a two-monitor system.

Avoid spending a lot of time typing in those tiny laptop keyboards. They’re horribly uncomfortable.

Move your feet around for better circulation, you’ll get less tired if you do that.

Finally, LISTEN to your body. If something’s not working for you, be it your monitor, keyboard, mouse or tablet, it doesn’t matter if you spent a lot of money on it. Your health and comfort are way more valuable! Especially if you’re in this for the long run.

April 10, 2010

Weekend Smallish Tip: Domain DENIED!

Filed under: Miscellaneous, The Planning Stage, domain names, launch — Tags: , , , — crfh @ 1:22 pm

Pay attention! This is an urban legend, but I have heard this one a lot.

Word on the street is that when you’re going to buy a domain, you make a LIST before you go to your favorite registrar. And if you find the domain you want -your first choice- BUY IT IMMEDIATLY.

Lots of people go first to check if a domain is available, then take some days to “think about it.”

Well, except that according to some people (I include myself, by the way, even if I have no way to confirm this is actually a fact) there are bots checking out what domains are wanted by people, and if you don’t buy them right away, they will snatch it from your hands and then try to sell the domain to you for an obscene amount of money. You have probably heard of this people… they are called domain squatters. They have no use for the domain but they will buy it so they can resell.

So next time you search for the domain of your dreams, be sure you hit the enter button with the right hand while your left one nurses your credit card.

Happy Domain Buying! (Thanks a lot to ziRta of http://www.oseano.net for reminding me of this)

April 5, 2010

Back from Vacation: On Vacations.

Filed under: Miscellaneous, Readership, Uncategorized — Tags: , , — crfh @ 1:25 pm

Welcome back! We resume on the webcomicking blogging, after a well deserved Easter break.

Which by the way, got me thinking about hiatuses, vacations, and all that.

Everybody knows that for a webcomic to work, it needs to have something of a schedule that includes frequent updating on it.

But eventually, even the most disciplined cartoonist needs a break. There are a few notable exceptions out there. I think Chris Crosby has updated daily for a decade without missing a strip, or something like that. But everybody knows Chris is not human, and he’s made of puppies instead. Most of us, however, need the occasional break, either to prevent burnout or to come up for air.

Creative work is actually pretty demanding on the psyche. Pretty often I tell people what I do, and they can actually believe I draw the thing. But then they ask “And you come up with this stuff everyday???” and they make a face like I’m pulling a fast one. I guess that after a decade and more somehow I’m missing the magic of it all, but I’m telling you, at some point it becomes routine. I’m not saying that in a bad way!

Deep down, however, our ideas well tend to dry up from time to time. It’s time for a vacation!

Right here I’m not going to speak about hiatuses that are triggered by external events. There’s no point in that. If you suddenly stop updating because a medical emergency or a computer malfunction or a natural disaster happened, then it’s inevitable. No, here we’re going to discuss *scheduled*, planned hiatuses, breaks, and vacations.

Every hiatus hurts your numbers. Know it, face it, accept it. The shorter, the less, of course, but how can you minimize the damage? Is it possible?

Yes.

1. Time them up with the holidays.

The first and most important strategy is to synchronize your vacations with the rest of the world. Everybody knows that  most people read their webcomics at work, so naturally holidays equal very low audience. There’s also another reason: holidays are opportunities for people to get away and/or spend time with their families. A lot of them are away from their computers or a working wi-fi connection. Others are engaged in activities that involve getting out, going to parties, or traveling. Readers are more likely to be understanding when you take time off your comic when it’s a holiday… after all, no one’s working.

What are the best holidays to schedule a long vacation? AFAIK, it’s the Christmas break. I take time off every year on December. Mostly, around  Thanksgiving audience takes a dive and doesn’t come back until mid January. This might not be such a good idea if you’re moving merchandise, but at least two weeks before Christmas nothing gets shipped in time anyway. Take it off.

July and August are good choices too. Spring Break. You can also take shorter hiatuses during the year on popular holidays such as July 4th. I’m mostly speaking about the anglo audience, of course, but cater to your own.

2. Make “bridges” with weekends.

Weekends suck in terms of audience (actuallyFridays suck too) so if you’re taking days off, time them appropiately. That means if you’re running on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule, you don’t take off Wednesday since it’s the middle of the week. It’s best to take Friday off so you get a long weekend and more time to recharge. Even if you’re going on holiday vacation you can take advantage of this: update on Wednesday, miss Friday, start again on a Monday.

3. Prepare material beforehand.

This includes things such as guest strips, recycling, or anything you can put together fast and without a lot of work. If your Dead Piro things are taking more time than your regular strips, forget it.

4. Announce it.

Don’t just vanish off the face of Earth. Let your readers know when the hiatus starts and when it ends.

5. Keep a tight community.

Fan-based communities, such as the ones that exist in forums and the like, are more likely to keep themselves occupied and involved with your comic during a hiatus.

6. Keep an RSS.

I’m totally guilty of not having added an RSS to my comics yet, but I will. This month. I promise! Anyway, not speaking about me: a lot of people completely depend on RSS to follow what they follow. Mailing lists and the like , and also social networks are good to let people know you’re updating again.

Do you have any other tips for taking a guilt-free worry-free vacation? Share in the comments!

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