Today I’ll be talking about my two favourite web comics that provide inspiration or commiseration for writers – yay! And how to keep going when you feel like giving up (“halfway through NaNoWriMo” blues, anyone?).

First, what can you read if you’re looking for someone writing about the traditional writers’ community?

I simply love the sporadic posts on InkyGirl’s Will Write for Comics (the best and most hilarious!), which focusses on a community of writers in one apartment block, and frequently features the characters battling through NaNoWriMo or doing other writing projects. If you need commiseration, this is where you should come first!

All WWFC comics featured today are used with permission for non-commercial purposes granted by Debbie Ridpath Ohi, the incredible writer and artist at Inkygirl.com. [http://inkygirl.com/comic-use-policy/]

 

And second, for something a little more out of left field:

I love PhD Comics; the jokes are writing a thesis are pretty funny, especially the ones from the very beginning of the comic series. I’ve read a few other “writer’s” web comics, but I always come back to PhD Comics because they’re updated so regularly.

The guy who writes them, Jorge Chan, is an insightful writer and his comics reflect that. I’ve talked about him before – he’s the guy who does talks at universities on “The Power of Procrastination”. His journey was from being a mechanical engineering PhD candidate who wrote a few comics to express his frustration with the process, to abandoning his PhD entirely and working full-time on the comics for his now-profitable website.

My favourite comics from PhD Comics are in the “writing” series, in which Celia the PhD candidate in the IT faculty struggles to write her thesis. The comics are, naturally, specific to academic writing, but I found them so true for me as a writer of fiction, as well.

(If you like the comics, check out the hilarious PhD Movie!)

All PhD Comics featured today are used with permission granted by Jorge Chan and the team at PhD Comics. [http://phdcomics.com/about.htm]

 

But the point of this post was to commiserate with your struggle with some funny pics, and then to encourage you to keep writing, so here you go:

The key to keeping on going:

“It doesn’t matter how slow you go, you’re lapping everyone on the couch.” – Catherine Deveny, Ten Things No One Ever Tells You About Writing

 

What’s your favourite web comic for writers? Share the link to the funnies in the comments below!

 

This post was written by TJ Withers-Ryan © 2014. Reblogging is highly encouraged as long as you credit me as the author.