Quotes about Doing the Work

SteveHorton

If you come across any cool quotes from professionals about Doing the Work, post them here.

From a recent AMA with Jerry Seinfeld. RIGHT ON!

[–]TooMuchProtein 85 points 3 hours ago

How do you deal with writers block?

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[–]_Seinfeld[S] 441 points 2 hours ago

Writer's block is a phony, made up, BS excuse for not doing your work.

JasonAQuest

I'm pretty sure y'all have seen this already, but this is Bendis' common sense answer to a question about writer's block that got so many excuse-makers and fakers up in arms:

Q: what advice do you have for someone that has had writers block for the past 6 or 7 years?

this will sound harsh but you’re probably not a writer.
writers write every day.  it’s ok, not everyone is.
but if you consider yourself one, get off your ass and get back to work!! write about why you haven’t been writing .  anything.  just write. 

_Beth_Wagner_

My father, who is a freelance writer/journalist, would always tell me:

"Draw something everyday, even if it's just a line. Draw something"

Richard_Pace

Pulled from Lauren McCubbin's Tumblr

E.B. White: “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” Chuck Close: “Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work.” Tchaikovsky: “A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood.” Isabel Allende: “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.” Samuel Johnson: “Composition is for the most part an effort of slow diligence and steady perseverance, to which the mind is dragged by necessity or resolution.”

joshhechinger

"He wondered if there ought to be a shining moment, like a pinnacle, a
flag above the mast of a ship. A moment when you just know in your gut
that your destiny is something big. A moment of brilliant certitude, of
swift clarity.

But that moment never comes.

No, there's just the work and the instinct to work."
- Paul Pope, 100%

Owen_Jones

It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic, is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.

-Teddy Roosevelt

Scott_S

"You have to work on your writing and your art everyday so you can eventually sell something.  Then you can buy yourself a new laptop and subscribe to the WWE network" - my wife.

EricPalicki

@Scott_S Having a partner/spouse who encourages you to do the work is a rare thing; treasure that.

settlechaos

There are millions of different quotes from professional writers telling people to writing and drawing comics is easy and necessary, but I think that this quote from Scott McCloud's Reinventing Comics really drives home that message:

"Traditionally, the most common questions comics pros tend to hear from aspiring writers and artist are: 1. 'Where do you get your ideas?' 2. 'What kind of pen do you use?' 3. 'How do I break into the business?' 

Here's how I answer that third one: Take an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper divide it into four sections by folding. Draw a comic in the following arrangement (diagram of an unfolded piece of paper with creases with the words on each section that reads: cover, page 3, page 4, back cover, second diagram show the other side paper with the same sections that read: page 1, page 2, page 5, page 6). Now, get a 2-sided photocopy. fold it, staple it, and trim it. Then sell it to a friend for 25 cents. 

"Voila!" I tell 'em "you're in the business!"

 

settlechaos

I also have a poster above my desk that I got from the first Image Expo back in 2012 that has photos of eight different writers and artists working on comics with quotes to go along with each photo. I look at this poster and read these quotes daily. 

"You should put your heart on the paper, and that's what should matter." -Emi Lenox

"Unless circumstances forces me out, I'll be a comic artist until the day I die." -Charlie Adlard

"I do the exact same thing every day. I wake up. I take a shower, I have a cup of coffee. I create a new world." -Jonathan Hickman

"My four favorite words to write will always be: 'Page One, Panel One'"- Brian K. Vaughan

"Make fantastic art, pick the right projects, and the rest will take care of itself" -Fiona Staples

"I still can't believe this is what I do for a living. I'm thankful for every single word I get to type. I don't deserve this at all." -Robert Kirkman

"Creating a story that's exactly what you want it to be, and having it printed around the world a few months later... That's the beauty of comics." -Ed Brubaker

"Follow your own rules. Do your own thing. Please yourself, and your audience." -John Layman

jorgefmunoz

This is one of my favorite quotes about doing comics, it's from Yves Chaland, amazing artist that died waaaaay too young.

"I believe in treating the reader badly, in making sure he never forgets the author is in charge. I can make a tiny event that takes three minutes fill 43 pages, and I can tell a person's entire life story in one page if I want to. I want to really grab the reader's attention, I want him to know that if he skips one image, he could miss a bloody massacre with 583 casualties. That's also why there can be pages with no text and others with more text than the reader can stand to read. You have to do the opposite of what other people do and invent the rules of a new style, because the style is the most important thing, and the author has to spend the most time on it."
Yves Chaland

JasonAQuest

Not a quote, but an article about things creative people do which make them different.  Which can also be mined for tips of how to better Do The Work:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/creativity-habits_n_4859769.html

JasonAQuest

Another reading opportunity rather than a quote:

How To Be Prolific: Guidelines For Getting It Done From Joss Whedon

DinoCaruso

“Don’t wait. Writers are the only artists I know of who expect to get somewhere by waiting. Everyone knows you have to dance to be a dancer, you have to sing to be a singer, you have to act to be an actor, but far too many people seem to believe that you don’t have to write to be a writer. So, instead of writing, they wait. Isaac Asimov said it beautifully in just six words: “It’s the writing that teaches you.” Writing is what teaches you. Writing is what leads to “inspiration.” Writing is what generates ideas. Nothing else-and nothing less. Don’t meditate, don’t do yoga, don’t do drugs. Just write.” 

Daniel Quinn

GregCarter

Hmmm, this is more how to do the work than doing the work... but not sure where else to leave it.

This is how one sentence of dialog can save volumes of exposition. 

https://forums.createspace.com/en/community/community/resources/blog/2010/04/07/the-greatest-example-of-show-it-dont-say-it

On the other hand, it got the creative juices flowing by thinking about how I could apply the lesson. So, it actually did make me do the work.

JasonAQuest

(I just fixed the link)

JasonAQuest

Unattributed, twelfth-hand quote:

"Learn something new every time you write a story."

I can't say I do this, but I do have to say that when I research a story extensively, I usually find that process as entertaining as the actual writing of it.

Owen_Jones

Came across this when getting back into weight training a few months ago but equally good motivation for anything:

http://thesummereffects.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/dear-hard-work/

DinoCaruso

Lots of stuff here:

http://www.advicetowriters.com/home/2014/7/12/richard-fords-10-rules-for-writers.html

JasonAQuest

In the documentary Particle Fever (about the Large Hadron Collider) physicist Savas Dimopoulos comments, "Jumping from failure to failure with undiminished enthusiasm is the secret to success."

He's speaking of the scientific method, and his 30-year wait to have confirmation of the theoretical work he did developing the Standard Model of subatomic particles, but it applies to areas of my life too.

_Beth_Wagner_

Not really a quote so much as an extreme example of Doing the Work:

Imagine if you will, that as a writer you are clinging to life. In your hospital room you ask for your manuscript so that you can continue to edit it for your publisher. That is currently my father. Working on his manuscript from his hospital bed. Doing the Work.

SteveHorton

"Talent, if it exists, does not matter one sticky whit. Because you cannot control it.

The work, though? The work matters.

So do the work. Control what you can control. And fuck talent."

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/03/02/the-toxicity-of-talent-or-did-you-roll-a-natural-20-at-birth/

SteveHorton

JasonAQuest

My bad.