Gifted Underachievers

The concept of discipline is a frequent topic of conversation among creatives. And as often, people bring a lot of baggage and prescriptions around how disciplined creatives should be. But what if we had a more generous and open concept of discipline? Maybe we all enter and exist within our creative lives with a range of practices that equate to our idiosyncratic view of being a disciplined creati...

In creative and creative-adjacent work, we always seem to have more projects and deadlines than we have time for. The Gifted Underachievers talk about how this situation develops and name a few scenarios: * Deadlines take priority, which means that other work gets pushed aside til the deadline’s met * That work then becomes the new priority—the need to catch up makes for more long hours * Life can...

Today, we’re profiling a terrific podcast by Carly Jackson and cohost Christy Lynn, the Book Club Podcast . If you like smart, in-depth analysis of stories, ranging across time periods and including classics as well as genre best-sellers, this is the podcast for you. Each season has a theme, and the current one is all about Romantasy ( A Court of Thorn and Roses, Spinning Silver , and more ) . Pre...

In an attention-based economy, how do creatives honorably and effectively build an audience, platform, and artistic presence without resorting to sensationalism or grandstanding? Too many believe that the only path is making outlandish claims (you will get a gallery show if you do this…), market conflict (you will never get a gallery show if you…), or some other form of clickbait. The world is sat...

Gifted Underachiever James Buchanan has just come through an extended period of overwork and is also dealing with a major life event, the death of a parent. Over the past few months, he’s reached a point of low inspiration on his own creative projects. He’s not only finding it hard to do the work, but also realizing that when he does start working on it, his brain’s in overdrive on life stuff. We’...

Did you know that you can advertise your creative work online? You alone, by yourself, without spending big bucks or lots of time? In this short segment, full-time writer James Buchanan shares three fundamentals for placing successful online ads. Questions for Listeners * Do you have any further tips about advertising online? * If you’ve never done it, what have the barriers been? (didn’t know abo...

If you engage in creative-adjacent work or perform, submit, or sell creative services or pieces of any kind, you likely need a contract. As Pat says, contracts remove confusion, manage expectations, and help prevent scope creep. They are necessary, but what should you write into yours? How flexible should a contract be? How can you use a contract to close a deal? What should you look for—the howle...

In a recent segment, Prepping for Crunch Time , we discussed ways to prepare for a period of intensive work, whether you’re an understudy called up to play the lead, a visual artist with an impending gallery show, or a writer on a deadline. Now we have a case study on Pat’s most recent “crunch time,” a 72-hour writing competition that brings contestants to their knees every year. Despite thorough...

As part of her pension project, Pat has been teaching courses online at the Editorial Arts Academy [ https://editorialartsacademy.com/2020/12/22/tour-of-developmental-editing-for-fiction/ ] for quite a while. In one course, she demystifies the art of developmental editing by working with students on the basics and not so basics of this type of editorial service. Great stuff! And she has filled up...

James floats out a scenario for consideration: * You’re a midlevel creative * You get your “big break”--an opportunity that could transform your career * They want compromises you’re not comfortable making What do you do? Pat figures creatives can cross that bridge when they get to it and base their actions on the specifics of the situation: what the compromise is, who’s asking for it, and what’s...

Pat is an expert all-nighter puller. In fact, James says that when it comes to understanding how to prepare for an intensive period of work, there’s none better than Pat. That’s why he asked for her tips on how she gets ready for the international three-day writing contest as well as other demanding periods of work. Question for Listeners: * How do you re-find your creative thread? For Further Exp...

Today, we’re profiling a wonderful project by Chris Bujold. Robot Dreams and Suburban Nightmares is “ a cinematic coming-of age memoir told through the films that defined a generation, a life, and a childhood.” Released just this week from Library Tales Publishing, the book is already zooming up the charts! And we are absolutely delighted to discuss Chris’s work and the meaning of movies in our ow...

August can be crazy. Crazy busy. Crazy fun. Crazy social. Crazy vacation time. And all that crazy can throw us out of our creative flow. Pat and James are absolutely struggling to recapture the motivation and flow state they’d had with their creative work back in June, when summer was merely a babe in the woods. To get back into creative work with momentum, Pat suggests focusing on space, time, an...

If you’ve been around writers, agents, and publishers for a while, you will be aware that ass-kissing, pandering, and sycophancy (call it what you will) are a feature of this harsh industry, where only a couple of hundred top agents can actually get good publishing deals, where a safe bet for publishers is a book that follows current trends, and where the exponential increase in people aspiring to...

It’s easy to get mired down in the BS that comes with working in a creative field, whether it’s publishing, the TV and film industry, visual arts, crafts, comedy, or whatever realm you operate in. Despite all that, we’re lucky to have an abiding interest that can see us through to the end of our lives. Creative work feeds our curiosities and provides meaning to both us creator and our audience. Wh...

As creatives we often rely on others for a great many things. As people with creative adjacent careers, we also rely on others for a great many things. Ergo and therefore, it is all too easy to fall into and be trapped by the dysfunction of others. And while we get good at preventing or short-circuiting dysfunctional processes, there is always a new one. Furthermore, if we depend on that other per...

It could be worse. Or so thinks James after receiving a relatively thoughtful letter from narrative to let him know he was not a finalist in their short fiction contest. He is an optimist from a family of optimists. However, he and Pat dive in with some solid insights as to whether or not the contest pathway is perhaps a better approach to getting our work out than the dark hole/deep wishing well...

Joe Ponepinto’s current project is a fascinating Substack publication called Beyond Craft . Learn how and why Joe created this world, the challenges, the audience, and the point. Bonus: a special offer to GU Listeners! Check Joe out at: Beyond Craft If you aren’t already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse! No spam, unsubscribe any time. Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachi...

In this special episode of Gifted Underachievers, we are absolutely delighted to welcome Gifted Achiever Amber Petty to the GU Clubhouse. Amber is a writer/Weird Marketing Maven living in Los Angeles. She’s helped hundreds of students get bylines in places like Huffington Post , Business Insider , the Guardian , New York Times , and more. Plus, she’s grown a 6-figure business and 11,000-person new...

An Underachieving Note: We’ve underachieved again. Summer is waning and\or peaking depending on whether you are going back to school or not. And we are, well, crazy busy with the details of life while fulfilling important family duties. And so, we bring you an incredible interview with the guy whose notebook is described as “off putting with serial killer vibes.” We love him. You love him. Here he...

There are lots of accusations of AI use in the arts—especially writing—based on both human detection and AI detection apps. So many creatives are worried that they could get accused of using AI when they are not. And those that publish or promote creative work are afraid that the creators they work with might be using AI. The problem is, that neither or human senses nor the AI detection software b...

If you sell your creative work or provide creative-adjacent services online, you’ve already made decisions about your market—ranging from the language and images you use for your website to the currency you accept payment in. As a Canadian, Pat’s begun to realize that the country many of her clients and students are based in (the USA) has become politically and economically unstable. This instabil...

In this disturbing short segment, the Gifted Underachievers discuss the basement of their Clubhouse, now free of any captured creative folk. Who should we nab next? NOTE: No captives have been held in the GU Clubhouse. We’re just being silly. Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifte...

What meaning do you get from your life as a creative? · Who are you now? · What have you done? · Are you heading where you want to go? The Gifted Underachievers discuss a challenging thought experiment to help you gain perspective on these questions. From there, you can tweak, choose, manage, and direct your current and future creative projects for maximum meaning and value to your body of work. Q...

Pat’s aggressively white office has way too much paper and other artifacts of her creative work. James does the exact same thing. In fact, he will find himself surrounded by piles of paper, old mail, out-of-date eyeglasses, folders for long dead projects, and more in his office when he decides time for a purge. We all do this. It’s too easy to set something aside thinking we’ll come back to it onl...