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Todd McFarlane and his little pals at Image turned that into a mantra.

And, let's face it! What wannabe artist doesn't LOVE to hear some hugely successful superstar saying "You don't have to be professional! You don't have to do the work that's expected of you, when it's expected of you! Look at me! I break all the rules and I make millions!"

When people would approach my table at Con and ask "how do you do it?" my usual patter about discipline and hard work would invariably cause their eyes to glaze over. They didn't want that. They wanted The Trick.

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Fake Milestone: 73337

That attitude seems to be more prevalent in the arts than just about any other field.  Thousands, perhaps millions, of actors move to Los Angeles based on the very few people who have been discovered on the street or working as a waiter/waitress.  That one example of hitting the big time without doing the work to get there drives people who are generally unprofessional (and many untalented...believe me, I've seen my fair share of LA theatre!) to pick up and move to find a shortcut to success. 

Even for many of those "discovered on the street" stories, the shorthand accound leaves out the part where the artist works like a dog on their craft, mostly with no compensation, when they aren't waiting tables or walking down the street.  They're working on their craft when you don't see it so when that agent or scout notices them, they are ready to step into that audition and showcase what they've been working towards all along. 

In comics it seems to be a variant of going to a con, showing a few pages to an editor and poof!  Within six months I'm drawing Uncanny X-Men or Spider-Man or Batman and making a six-figure income.  As in theatre, music or film I HAVE heard stories from editors of a legendary few who were so talented that it did happen that way for them...but without the craft, drive and work ethic behind their awesome skills they don't last long in a deadline-oriented industry.

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* I say "almost", but I honestly can't think of another one!

I'm reminded of JB once commenting that "creative block is for amateurs".  When you've got a deadline coming at you like a freight train, you've got to silence the inner critic, get down to business and deliver. Over the years, I've had to end relationships with a number of creative folks who didn't get that "on-time" and "on-budget" were givens.

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"Writer's block is for amateurs." - Charles Schulz

And who would know better?

It's been said that for the majority of the 74 novels and novellas that Rex Stout wrote between 1934 and 1975, he wrote them longhand, in one draft that he send to his editor/publisher.

(It was later learned that he revisited three of the stories, changing significant points -- almost making a new story with the same characters. But the "final versions" of the rest came from "first drafts.")

I was still WORKING.--- JB

Keep in mind, too, that comics have a wide slice of fans unlike almost any other human endeavor*. Fans who are absolutely convinced they can do the job at least as well, if not BETTER, than those actually doing it!---JB

I think part of the problem is that many people don't think that what artists, broadcasters, actors and many others in the creative arts do is real work.  They think because they know football that they can broadcast as well as Al Michaels.  They think since they can come up with comic book stories that they can write like JB.   That is until they man up and try it and realize that they don't have the talent or work ethic.

They would never think this of a doctor, lawyer or scientist.

It doesn't help when many creative outlets are filled with hacks. Still, most of those hacks are better than their critics who say they can do it better.