I spend hours, sometimes days on a good meme. A really good meme might even keep me up at night as I hone in on the idea, nay, the ideals that I intend to communicate via this meme.
My creative process for memes is no different than that of a recording artist or a poet or a sculptor. First, the vague outline of an idea forms in my head. I can only describe the sensation as...wispy, or ethereal. Where is this meme going? What is this meme saying? How will this meme change the world? Next, the meme speaks to me. It gives me the top text, but sometimes it gives me the bottom text first. It doesn't matter which comes first, the top text or the bottom text. All that matters is the message as a whole. With memes, the sum truly is greater than its individual parts.
After the texts have formulated in my mind, I begin to consider the art upon which this meme will appear. Sure, you have your standard Scumbag Steves and Sudden Clarity Clarences, but those memes are mainstream now. I have evolved beyond the mainstream meme, and often must seek out the perfect image to convey the meme as forcefully and effectively as I can. This may mean looking through magazines for inspiration, or paging through endless stock photos for the perfect scene.
After I have found a suitable image, it is finally time to complete this meme. The message is clear, the illustration is perfect. The top text must be aligned just perfectly, the bottom text must be sized just so for the reader to truly feel that impact in their mind. The image must show just enough- not too much memery, not too little. Just enough.
I would say I'm a pretty successful memer, but success is not what drives me to make memes. That drive is deep down within me. It's innate. It's insatiable. Is this not what artists feel when inspiration for a painting strikes them? Is this not what Ernest Hemingway felt when he sat by the sea?
So you're right, anyone can make a meme...but not everyone has what it takes to be a true memer.