The most important thing about art is to work
An excerpt from "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield.
A lotta people out there call themselves comedians. They have the profile photo with a microphone, they perform occasionally, etc. They identify that way because identifying is the easy part; doing the work is the tough part. As Steven Pressfield writes in The War of Art: “The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”
That book, The War of Art, is the one I recommend to aspiring comics/artists/creatives the most. Here’s a comprehensive summary by Derek Sivers.
Have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what “Resistance” is. This book is about that. Read it.
In it, he talks a lot about what it means to be a professional:
The qualities that define us as professionals?
1) We show up every day.
2) We show up no matter what.
3) We stay on the job all day. Our minds may wander, but our bodies remain at the wheel.
6) We accept remuneration for our labor. We’re not here for fun. We work for money.
7) We do not overidentify with our jobs.
8) We master the technique of our jobs.The amateur, on the other hand, overidentifies with his avocation, his artistic aspiration. He defines himself by it. He is a musician, a painter, a playwright. Resistance loves this. Resistance knows that the amateur composer will never write his symphony because he is overly invested in its success and overterrified of its failure. The amateur takes it so seriously it paralyzes him.
Now consider the amateur: the aspiring painter, the wannabe playwright. How does he pursue his calling? One, he doesn’t show up every day. Two, he doesn’t show up no matter what. Three, he doesn’t stay on the job all day. He is not committed over the long haul; the stakes for him are illusory and fake. He does not get money. And he overidentifies with his art. He does not have a sense of humor about failure.