The most underrated creative skill isn’t talent.

It’s showing up again.

Tonight I had the chance to hear Frank Miller and Zack Snyder in conversation at the Wilshire Ebell as part of Miller’s tour for his new memoir, Push the Wall.

One story stuck with me.

Miller talked about showing his early work to Neal Adams. Adams didn’t sugarcoat it. He told him exactly what wasn’t working.

Most people would’ve taken that as a sign to quit.

Miller took it as a reason to come back the next day.

Then the next.

Eventually, the criticism became progress.

That idea echoed all night.

From Miller’s memoir:

“Never forget that a setback is a lesson, and an outright failure is nothing less than a master class.”

That landed harder than I expected.

Over the past year, there have been plenty of moments when it would’ve been easier to wait until I felt more ready. Instead, I’ve tried to keep making the next thing. A portfolio. A Notes section. Learning AI. Another project.

Momentum isn’t something you find. It’s something you build by returning to the work.

Creative careers aren’t built because every project succeeds.

They’re built because you keep making the next thing.

You revise. You learn. You show up.

You keep going long enough that today’s failures become tomorrow’s experience.

Sometimes persistence isn’t glamorous.

Sometimes the next version of you is built by showing up one more time.

What’s a piece of feedback you didn’t want to hear, but needed to?