One of the most important lessons for 24 Hour Comics Day is ... well, I want to say "Don't Give Up" straight off but I can't.

It's "Know Your Limits".

Need a bathroom break? Go. Hungry? Eat something. Wrists hurting? For the love of all your tendons, take a break (and some ibuprofen, or do stretches, or a hot/cold contrast bath ... seriously. RSI is no fun and it can knock you out of commission for six to nine months at a time ... and I'm speaking from experience).

But if while respecting your limits ... you have to recognize when your brain's just meesin' with ya, and push through it.

24 Hour Comics Day can be quite the intimidating challenge, especially if you haven't done it before. Because Nathan Vargas and I had tried it before and failed, we started thinking hard about how to succeed - and I in particular started thinking about timing: how to break down your hours, how long you typically take breaks, and so on.

To keep myself on track, I started writing down panel timings as I was working, an almost unconscious decision that soon turned into a policy. As a result, I produced a nearly complete timeline of events of a successful 24 Hour Comics Day.

Everyone's method will be different, and this may not apply to you. But it shows at least ONE successful approach: preparing ahead, bringing good food, other refreshments and adequate supplies, getting planning done early, keeping each page tight, noticing that you're falling behind, finding faster ways to do things, taking breaks to stay energized - and never, never, never giving up.