Gifted Underachievers

As part of the grant experiment, we here in the Gifted Achievers clubhouse have recently been asking guests about their experience with grants. In this short excerpt, writer and grant recipient Nadja Lubiw-Hazard shares her insightful and encouraging tips. Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it. If you aren’t already a subscriber, we’d love to h...

When Pat was doing her MFA in Writing, there was almost no business training (OK, none) and no mention of how to get published except writing exceptionally well and getting a New York agent. Thirteen years later and having worked with said NY agent, she’s starting to realize that it would have been equally good to have explored more of her local writing and publishing scene. She and James talk abo...

This segment began as an open discussion involving a lot of silliness. However, from that silly wrapper emerged an exploration of whether we should keep pitches simple thereby allowing the work to speak louder. Would this lead to more acceptances? Also, James drops his never-fail pickup line—so…don’t miss that action! Questions for Listeners * What are your pitch dos and don’ts? * Do you find pitc...

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If you’re a creative looking for services (say, a voice or acting coach) to help you advance your career, how do you find the right person to hire? And if you’re a service provider to creatives, how do you show that you’re worth hiring? We start this segment with the strange math of the NYT Bestsellers list and end with the C-Squared Fallacy. Correlation does NOT equal causation, and creatives loo...

In this segment, Pat and James discuss the concept of persona—how to dress like a creative. We examine five possibilities, discuss the irony of expensive clothing for midlevel creatives, and come up with our own dress code for writers. Questions for Listeners (Hop on over to the segment web page to leave us your answers.) * Do you see yourself as any of the five “types?” (Desk Goblin, Dark Academi...

Here's a little-known fact about Gifted Underachiever Pat—she's a two-time winner of the International 3-Day Novel Contest, held every Labour Day weekend since its 1977 genesis in a Vancouver bar. In this snippet from our interview with Gifted Achiever Nadja Lubiw-Hazard (coming soon!), Nadja bravely commits to joining Pat and the international band of weirdos who enter the contest every year. If...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

While looking for our next stenchers (concept defined here) , James and Pat hit upon the notion that creatives often make a hash of artist statements and writer bios. This led to some homework and the discovery of dos and don’ts for both, which led to the further discovery that there was a lot to learn for our grant pitches. Want to know the dos and don’ts? Have a listen! Questions for Listeners (...

We all can appreciate the stress that comes with creative work. The uncertainty and sheer busy-ness of it can be overwhelming. In the midst of a stress-filled week, James experiences two important moments, one in nature and the other reconnecting with a dear friend. This leads to a discussion of how we need dopamine hits through the week, which somehow morphs into helpful tips on how to avoid gett...

Proving it’s hard to have too much of a good thing, James and Pat fall in for some John Irving silliness (e.g., the captive downstairs). Question for Listeners (Hop on over to the segment web page to leave us your answers.) What is your favorite John Irving book? Segment Links John Irving at Home [Note: Video is twelve years old. John Irving now lives in Canada.] Thanks for listening to Gifted Und...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

Well, we all knew something bad could happen. After all, we’re dependent on the kindness of strangers for just about everything we do, especially when applying for grants and residencies. In this segment, James gets a hard rejection, Pat commiserates successfully, and then our two Gifted Underachievers work at extracting the lessons we should learn from our respective grant experiences. Questions...

James got some great news. Pat thinks a meaningful celebration is in order, and has a few ideas. Things go downhill quickly as the GU imagination factory takes over and turns the quiet celebration James was planning into an exercise in public humiliation. Questions for Listeners (Hop on over to the segment web page to leave us your answers.) * How do you celebrate good news? * Do you play the lute...

More than one writer has found themselves too busy blurbing other people’s books to write their own...but things might be shifting. The New York Times said recently that “blurbing” (supporting another artist’s work by writing praise they can quote) may not be all it’s cracked up to be. And even more recently, Simon & Schuster’s US imprint announced an end to the ancient practice of forcing writers...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

If the GU Clubhouse had a doorbell, it would sound like a court musician trumpeting in the king, or a superhero landing on a roof, or … well, we don’t really know. We’ve got content to create, dammit! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

Pat is a bear. James is a porpoise. What the heck does that mean? Pat and James are talking about our respective chronotypes, how you can find yours, and what it means to us as creatives. The Gifted Underachievers also discuss: * Social media influences are assholes. * Snooze button forgiveness. * Our creative routines. * Routine switching. * Sleeping when stressed and our sizzler cringe reel. * T...

Here at Gifted Underachievers we were delighted to have special guest Miriam Ruff on the show. Miriam walked us through (and demonstrated) how to brew the perfect cup of tea—in this case, Scottish Breakfast Tea—while we discussed her life as a full-time wordsmith, including: * How Miriam learned to say yes to the right things * How you can know what the right things are * Writing and publishing a...

Many of us begin our creative careers as young adults. We might have received praise for our work and (more rarely) been encouraged to make a career out of it. That positive feedback might have led us to hope or believe that we’d soon be able to earn money through our creative work. Not just earn money, but make a living. Pop! That’s the sound you hear when the world doesn’t immediately respond wi...

In this thrilling update, Pat is stripped of pretensions that she can write a viable grant application on her own, and James gets an email from Yaddo. More importantly, the heretofore hidden value of grant writing (hidden to us chumps in the GU clubhouse, that is) is revealed. Questions for Listeners: (Hop on over to the segment web page to leave us your answers.) * Have you ever asked for help wi...

Without our delusional imaginations, we here at Gifted Underachievers would be bereft of John Irving’s pretend company. We wouldn’t need gas masks or hazmat suits. And our lives would be just that little bit less interesting. Questions for Listeners: (Hop on over to the segment web page to leave us your answers.) * Given the current tension between Canada and the US, where do you imagine the GU Cl...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com