I'm paraphrasing that great quote from (This American Life host) Ira Glass — basically the sentiment of, “Keep doing it, even though all your stuff is going to be pretty bad. But don't be discouraged by its imperfections; embrace it if it's half good. Fake it till you make it. Put things up. If they're sloppy, keep trying.” I love his thought that nobody carves out this perfect jewel. Everybody struggles and does all these half attempts, and it's really more about time than it is about perfection.
Just put in the time, and don't be too precious about things. Work with your friends. And maybe, eventually, you'll get paid. (Laughs) If you're doing it for the money, then just forget it. When you sit at your computer and think, I'm going to write something really political and interesting, it's like, Okay, good luck with that!
People quit because it's really hard. It's hard to not have a house, hard not to have money, hard not to have insurance, hard not to be married, hard to have your parents ask you every day what you're going to do with your life. It's hard to wait tables while you're doing improv shows. It's hard to get up onstage and bomb. It's hard to lug your props around everywhere. It's hard to submit things that get rejected.
— Amy Poehler, from Poking A Dead Frog: Conversations With Today's Top Comedy Writers, by Mike Sacks
