like how do people stay motivated to finish it?
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In my eyes, this is a quality that one has or does not have. So the necessary persistence, respectively the will and the ability to also finish things that were started on one’s own initiative, so different from a factory worker who has to create something certain in period x.
It is not mandatory to finish these things in an uninterrupted flow, but to finish them even if you start something else in the meantime, because you run out of ideas for the current work, or the motivation may be less than at the beginning. It is important to bring out these works again and again, even if it is only for a few brushstrokes to become aware of where it is stuck, to work on it, to be able to think about the “problem”.
Michelist
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If your questioning yourself you already lost it. True motivation does not ask itself about its validity it is the drive itself. If you wanna do it others will not be able to convince yes or no. It will happen regardless.
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Motivation is, to me, the most important part of the process.
Here’s my advice to keeping up motivation, as someone who has drawn two full-length comics and has finished about three chapters (60~ pages) of another one:
1: Consider the reasons why you want to quit
People have reasons for wanting to do things, and you are no exception.
If you want to quit, that can be because this comic just isn’t fun for you and you don’t like it, and the benefits (having a comic!) are being justifiably outweighed by that negative experience. You can try to find ways to make it easier and more fun for you. Maybe make the style more “casual” and messy; start with the simplest forms, and build up until you’re at the minimum amount of satisfied. Cut corners wherever possible, draw lazy backgrounds, etc etc.But if nothing works, and you just hate drawing the comic… maybe just stop? There’s nothing wrong with that. Don’t keep putting yourself through something you don’t like and find boring if it’s not actually necessary. Seriously, that’s not fair to you.
… Sidenote, because I know this comes up when people talk about this sort of thing, and it hurts me to see: “laziness” isn’t a reason you want to quit. “Laziness”, if it exists at all, is an action, not a state of being, and actions, as I’ve said, have reasons behind them. I have not met one person who did not have a justifiable and understandable reason for their “laziness”, even if they did not consciously realize it at first.
2: Make an outline of the story
This is so important in my experience. I would strongly advise not to start a comic without having a very STRONG idea of where it’s going and where it’s going to end. Thumbnail your entire comic, or at least do it chapter by chapter, if you haven’t done that already. I do this, and having a clear roadmap of where I’m going, reminding me of what I’m excited for and how much I like my idea, really keeps my motivation up.
3: “Just have fun.”
That sentence is my mantra at myself whenever I’m working on art. The previous two pieces of advice could really just be covered by this. Really, this is all you need to hear, in my opinion.
Seriously, just have fun. From my thinking, there’s no other really good reason to draw a comic other than to have fun doing it. Enjoy yourself. If you can’t enjoy yourself, quit, take a break. Think about why you’re not enjoying yourself. Fix it, if possible. Or quit. That’s all there is to it.
My art and work has improved tenfold (and I’ve been way more productive) since I decided I wanted to draw for fun. Not for an audience, not for money, not even to make “my artistic vision come true”, but for fun, solely, without exception.
And the result is a win-win. I’ve made a lot of comic pages AND I’m happy and fulfilled as a human being. 
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- Make a schedule
- Put in schedule constant breaks/consistent breaks. I.E. Do an hour of work a day except Wednesday. Wednesday is mandatory take a break day… etc.
- If burnout happens, schedule a LONG BREAK. But it is important to set a date when to resume work again. I.E., I’m burnout, I’m taking a month long break from doing comic project. But just a month long, not two, not three, just one month long. Ease back in when taking long breaks… don’t start out with a thirteen hour work day for example.
SCHEDULE and SCHEDULED BREAKS are the key.
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