Most of the time, when we see someone on top of a mountain, we wonder just how exactly they were able to get up there?
We think that maybe there’s a lift that takes them up. Maybe they rode a helicopter. Maybe there’s a hidden staircase somewhere on the side of the mountain.
The hard truth that we have to swallow, however, is that a lot of those that sit on top of mountains had to climb there all by themselves.
What we sometimes see as overnight successes, by no means happened overnight. What everyone has to understand is that there often really is a struggle. Now that struggle may have shortened in recent years, what with the development of technology and internet and everything. However, that doesn’t mean that even success can become instant (except, maybe, in the case of certain YouTube sensations that rose to stardom in the blink of an eye).
But even then, those “overnight successes” still had to prove themselves worthy of the attention that they’ve been given (like yet another YouTube sensation that sang a song about Fridays).
When you think about it, then, those that succeeded in the old days were probably much more refined and practiced in their skills and talents. They spent hours and hours toiling away at their brushes, their guitars, and their scripts-all the while improving their skills as they labored.
Even the old epics themselves talk of mythical heroes that, before they would ever meet their dreams, would endure obstacles that stopped them at every turn.
I like to think of those successful creators like these heroes. It wasn’t just their skills that made them successful, but their dedication, their passion, and their wit as well. They were smart enough and passionate enough to make a way for them to get to where they are now.
Hopefully we can all achieve that someday.
Which is why we want to mine the minds of these creators through a series of interviews. Perhaps we’ll learn something in the process.
Knowledge is power, after all. But knowledge alone isn’t all that powerful.
So while we want to learn as much as we can, we also want to be able to put into practice everything we’ve learned. That’s what The Hawkers Project is all about.
While we brave the seas, we hope to take you along with us for the ride, and see just how far the winds will take us.
It’s not enough to want something. You have to make it happen, and these people have made things happen-one way or another. If we could just consolidate all that we can learn from them, then perhaps there is hope for the rest of us as well.
One of people I love to hear talk about comics and getting into comics is Neil Gaiman himself. Very articulate, very wise and actually quite funny, I just love that he never misses an opportunity to tell people to go out there and “Make good art.”
