There's a line that I've quoted before on this blog and often in talking to friends. It's from Alan Jay Lerner and he said, "There are some people in this world who are absolutely brilliant at playing the clarinet and nothing else." Mr. Lerner, by the way, showed his own brilliance with some (not all) of the musicals he wrote like My Fair Lady and Camelot. He demonstrated a notable lack of brilliance at matrimony and probably some other things as well.
A lot of people ask me for advice and when I comply, I usually use the joke/disclaimer that "Free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it." In other words, "Follow this at your own risk." In Blackjack, if you're dealt two eights, it is always wise to split them but that doesn't mean it will always work. Most good advice is advice that is right a majority of the time, not all the time.
I understand why folks ask me for advice about writing or creating comic books. I have some expertise in that area, maybe not as much as some other people but I have some. (I should add here: I have zero expertise in what some old comic book should sell for or the best way to sell it. You might just as well ask me the best way to perform a triple Coronary Artery Bypass Graft.)
But I know a little in a few areas. A few. It's a number that's way smaller than the number of topics on which I am asked for advice.
One topic which for some reason I am asked about lately is apartment rentals — how to locate them, what to look for, rent vs. lease, what to look for in a contract, etc. This is an area in which I have delved exactly once in my life and that was in 1975. There is no earthly reason to assume that I knew what I was doing back then, no reason to assume the process has not changed in 45 years, no reason to assume I even remember much about it.
You could get as much learned knowledge about apartment rentals by interrogating a mynah bird. What you get from me is "I don't know" and if I ask, "Why are you asking me?," they usually say something like, "Well, you seem like a smart guy." If you ever said that to me, thanks for the compliment but my rejoinder was probably "Yeah, maybe about cartoon voices or Laurel and Hardy movies or Jack Kirby." And then I probably laid the Alan Lerner quote on you along with a reminder that I don't play the clarinet, brilliantly or otherwise.
I'm a big believer in seeking out expertise…recognizing what you don't know much about and seeking out folks who have more experience and knowledge than you do. When I read biographies — auto or otherwise — of successful people, I am often struck by how often they got good results by doing that…
…and I don't mean that they asked someone for advice. I mean that they asked the right someone. If you're going to ask the wrong someone, you might just as well ask me how to perform that triple Coronary Artery Bypass Graft. Or play the clarinet. And for God's sake, don't ask me how to perform a triple Coronary Artery Bypass Graft while playing the clarinet.