Gifted Underachievers
Gifted Underachievers is a podcast aimed at midlevel creatives who harbor ambitions far beyond their current station. It speaks to people who feel they have more potential than their output suggests, and who are still figuring out how to close that gap. The show is published via Substack, where the host pairs episodes with written posts and community discussion. Expect candid talk about creative work, self-doubt, drive, and the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
Episodes
Platform Building: Clickbait vs Meaning
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 satu
Navigating Low-Inspiration Cycles
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’v
Online Ads for Creatives
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 about i
The How & Why of Contracts for Creatives
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 howler
Flow Hygiene: A Debrief
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 an
Case Study: Marketing an Online Course
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 the
Opportunities & Compromise: Two Perspectives
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 makingWhat 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 at st
Case Study: Prepping for Crunch Time
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 Explora
Listener Profile: Chris Bujold, Robot Dreams and Suburban Nightmares
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 own
Creative Flow Into Fall
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, and t
The Stench of Sycophancy in Publishing
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
Honour Your Creative Work
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. Wha
How to Escape Someone Else’s Dysfunction Trap!
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 perso
Contest Update: Narrative Sends James a Nice Note
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 of
Listener Profile: Beyond Craft by Joe Ponepinto
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 CraftIf 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 Underachiever
The Fabulous Amber Petty!
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 newslet
Gifted Achiever Richard Kelly Kemick
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 h
Are AI Hallucinations Taking Down Creatives?
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 be
Diversifying Your Market Across Borders
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 instabili
Who Are We Without Our Captives? (Silly)
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 BookHere in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted A
Are You Heading Where You Want to Go?
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.Questio
Does Creative Detritus Imprison Us?
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 only
Introducing Listener Profiles
The Gifted Underachievers are really proud of their listeners and feel that it’s time they share the spotlight with them.If you’d like to get some more attention for your work, specific project, or anything you do as a creative, send us an email at giftedunderachievers5@gmail.com. We’ll be in touch.Question for Listeners:* Why not be a GU listener profile?Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book!Here in the
Your CEO Meeting: A Case Study
Dobes (Pat Dobie) is one of the most organized gifted underachievers in history. She has a huge whiteboard and a well-stocked supply of dry erase markers.What does she use them for?Well, Pat holds CEO meetings for her creative-adjacent work at least twice a year.The purpose?To recenter, prioritize, and find new capacity in her creative adjacent work.How does she do that?She is great at data captur
Your Network Signals Who You Are
The Gifted Underachievers discuss the pros and cons of referring or outsourcing some of their creative-adjacent work to other professionals, especially aspects of the work that are ancillary to our core professional services.In other words, will you do better to stick to your core competency and pass clients to others to shepherd them through the stuff you don’t want to do? Or is it better to offe
The Fuel That Powers Artistic Glory: Cheese
“A day without cheese is a day without sunshine,” says Dobes.James claims, “It’s the enzymes.”Here in the Gifted Underachievers Clubhouse, we agree that the food group known as cheese goes in many things: tuna melts, fried egg sandwiches, salads... And if you’re a REAL cheesehound, you’ll like it hard, soft, or blue.It’s not just the enzymes, it’s not just the feel-good fats—the bald fact is that
Tipping Point Acts: Steps Up the Ladder
Sure, big breaks are great, but careers and talent are built over time, one project after another.In this segment, the Gifted Underachievers conclude that the proper mindset (or at least, a healthy and realistic mindset) is to consider your career as a steady push toward a tipping point. Plan your work and future by achieving a series of tipping point acts that lead to where you want to go.Questio
Space Overhaul for Creative Optimization
Our environments interact with us every minute of every day. Working in a cluttered, dusty, and disorganized space WILL reduce both your clarity and your creative output.What’s one to do? How do you reorganize your space to optimize your hours at work? What visual and sensory elements will harness and support your energy?The Gifted Underachievers discuss this with a view to Pat’s overhaul of her “
PSA: It's Tick Season, Folks!
You knew ticks could give you Lyme disease...but did you know they could actually damage some of your more dangly bits of organs? Have you heard of the phenomenon called “ghost tick injury?” James has experienced it first-hand, and it’s not pretty.PSA #2: As is often the case with your Gifted Underachievers, the useful information is in the “Further Exploration” section of the show notes.Questions
Immersive Creative Careers: Social or Antisocial?
All creatives have immersive careers. We live in our own minds for long periods of time. We need to go to our office/home/studio wherever and just be on our own, away from people to think. That is creative work even though a brush isn’t on a canvas, words aren’t being produced, the stage is empty.Explaining this need to people wondering why we are leaving a party…or not showing up…always (often?)
Do You Suffer from Time Zone Insensitivity?
Many creative folks work remotely and have video meetings with people from all over the world. Your Gifted Underachievers are two such people—James has many meetings with clients, publishers, and agents, and Pat has students and clients in far-flung places such as Singapore, New Zealand, Central Europe, and the U.K.We’ve both noticed that people located in Eastern Time (North America) can sometime
Nietzsche on Loving Your Fate
Nietzsche said “Love your fate because your trials are necessary.” This isn’t nihilism—quite the contrary. There can be great meaning in welcoming your challenges rather than seeing them as “bad luck” or “unfair.”In this brief segment, the Gifted Underachievers talk about how loving their fates has increased their own sense of agency and control.Question for Listeners:Do you love your fate?Buy us
Case Study: Pitching for High-Value Projects
When James pitches for a ghostwriting gig, he needs to quickly present himself as a capable professional to clients for projects often worth $80k or more. Pat faces much the same situation when she meets with prospective clients: they have to believe that she offers professional services that will get them closer to their writing and publishing goals.While they represent two different roles in the
Newsflash: GU Launches Extraction Team in Response to $1B Academy Lawsuit
The Academy is relentless in their push to sue the Gifted Underachievers for $1B. They have won removal of the case to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. But worse than that: They want the GU Clubhouse.The team are up against the wall; they’re being rolled by a well-funded and motivated adversary.In an act of desperation, they launch the GU Extraction Team.Questions for Listeners:H
Optimizing Your Creative-Adjacent Biz
After a period of offering two main services, James has focused on ghostwriting without distraction, with the goal of becoming one of the top 20 ghostwriters in the country.Pat has more than one sphere of operation, and she freely tosses around terms like “beachhead” and “flagship” to describe how she successfully manages these separate spheres.Note—In case you’re wondering, the characteristics of
Critiquing Other Creatives
The Gifted Underachievers talk about how to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a creative worker’s art. Are there guard rails that will help you deliver a needed truth in a way that feels supportive while getting taken seriously by the artist?What are the tenets of constructive critiquing? We share our experiences in workshop environments and MFA programs and share real-world examples of how
What’s Your Personal Narrative as a Creative?
If you were to write a tagline for your internal narrative as a creative, what would it be? Pat and James talk about how they view their internal creative narrative. Unsurprisingly, Pat is the underdog fighting forward. James is the outsider doing his best to find a way inside.While these may be true self-assessments, what do they mean? How can we use our internal narratives to help our creative m
Newsflash: Academy Sues GU for $1B! (silly)
The Gifted Achievers have stepped in it now. The GU newsroom is reporting that the Academy is suing the Gifted Underachievers for $1B. This comes just weeks after Pat and James (mostly Pat) fired the GU legal team.The lawsuit is shutting down the GU Below the Line Crew Bee Oscars.More to come in future updates.Question for Listeners:* How much sillier can this get?[Answer: a lot]For Further Explor
What is a Gifted Underachiever?
The vast majority of schools are structured to recognize, validate and reward people who thrive with a certain way of learning. As most gifted underachievers have discovered, being good at school does not mean you will ace life and career. Conversely, not being good at school doesn’t mean you will fail.Many of us get more from experiences outside that structure. Although we might not do well initi
Sustainable Creative-Adjacent Careers
If you’re like us, you’re doing more than your own creative work to keep the lights on at home. Here in the Gifted Underachiever Clubhouse, we provide services to other creative folk who seek professional help in making their work the best it can be.Experience has taught us that a few skills come in very handy in building sustainable creative-adjacent careers across artistic disciplines. What are
Releasing John Irving
It’s our 100th Episode, and to celebrate this momentous achievement we are letting go of someone very dear to our hearts: novelist John Irving.Join us live as we release John back into the wild at an undisclosed location in the dead of night. And set your alerts for news of his reappearance in his very own adopted home town of Toronto, Canada!Question for Listeners:Do you think John will make it h
Can Constraints Release Creative Flow
James is stuck. Pat has an idea: Try setting some constraints in your process or actual creative work to release creative flow. The key areas to place constraints, Pat explains, are time, form, and materials. Beyond that, the Gifted Underachievers discuss how to force decision making while diving deeper into a creative flow.Questions for Listeners:* What constraints might work for you?Buy us a Cof
The GU Bee Oscars for Below the Line Crew (silly)
It takes a village to make a movie, even a bad movie. But not everyone in that village gets the recognition they deserve. These are the people who comprise what is known as the Below the Line crew. IN this segment, the Gifted Underachievers pick up the Academy Awards’ slack.Questions for Listeners:* Aren’t we all as gifted underachievers below the line crew?Buy us a Coffee and Win a Guide to World
British Social Time (inane)
Further to last week’s difficulties with finding the clock, the Gifted Underachievers are puzzled about what British folk mean when they invite you for a meal at “7 for 7:30.”Spoiler: It means about what you’d expect.Questions for Listeners:* What do you think about sitting down to dinner half an hour after you arrive at someone’s house?* If the invitation said “7 for 8,” would you still go?Buy us
Grant Experiment Update: the Agony of Bread Loaf
Throughout his life, James has driven past the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference campus in Ripton, Vermont, hundreds of times if not a thousand. Often, he speeds by as the writers’ conference is happening knowing he’d been rejected once more.That he has this connection to the campus is galling. But there are lessons to be learned from each failure and a discussion of why Bread Loaf and similar creati
GU Finds the Clock (silly)
The clock (aka the timer) is handy for a couple of loquacious idiots like the Gifted Underachievers. But where is the damn thing?!Questions for Listeners:No questions today, we’re too busy looking for the other thing.Buy us a Coffee and Win a BookHere in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting
Metabolize Your World Through Art
In this segment, the Gifted Underachievers talk about one of the great benefits of being an artist in any field: making art forces you to pay attention, and attention to the real world gives you experiences you won’t have if you’re doomscrolling in the coffee shop.We talk about essayist and humorist David Sedaris, street photographer and poet Rodney DeCroo, and how to strengthen your “noticing” mu
How do you define success?
In every creative field there are “top-tier” workers, aka A-listers, whose achievements are undeniable and well-earned. This milieu can seem like a closed system, but the Gifted Underachievers agree that the elite corner of the creative ecosystem survives only by seeking out and admitting new talent.Questions for Listeners:* Are you a member of the so-called creative elite?* If yes, can we intervi
Grant Experiment Update: Another Near Miss
Last year, the board of a prestigious Canadian arts grant recommended Pat for a grant, but then they ran out of money before her name came up on the approved list. This year? Ame thing, exactly. WTF! Is this a victory, validation that Pat’s work and proposal are worthy? Or is this a more painful form of shunning?Plus! An important US NEH grant update: The worm turns!Questions for Listeners:* Have
James' Pearl
Two years ago, James made a pearl. And he’s back at it, trying to bend the will of nature and time to his ‘creative’ whims.Questions for Listeners:* Any pearls in your past?For Further Exploration:Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so liste
Reset Your Creativity
In this segment, Pat brings up the issue of resetting our creative physiology via the five senses when we feel frazzled or just need to give the brain and body a break. This isn’t about some complex, time-consuming set of to-dos to add to your list. Instead, it’s about taking five or maybe ten minutes and doing something simple that either refocuses the mind or stretches the body.Questions for Lis
How to Use Speaking Gigs
In this segment, Gifted Underachiever Dobes is just in from the opera house, where she did a high-profile speaking engagement and had them rolling in the aisles.Kidding!But Dobes has, in fact, spoken in front of an audience, occasionally for money. James has also spoken in front of an audience—for example, his legendary talk on creativity for the organization called Creative Mornings.We talk about
The Sumo Honeymoon (Silly)
Here in the Gifted Underachievers clubhouse, we’ve been talking about travel lately. Spanish cities James would like to visit include Barcelona and Madrid. When Pat shares her experience of wonderful Barcelona, James realizes there’s been some weird episodes in his GU cohost’s life.Questions for Listeners:* Have you ever been to Barcelona?* What’s your favorite sport?Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book
Minor Leagues for the Arts World
What “career” pathways exist for creative writers, visual artists, and actors? Is there anything analogous to the training grounds of the minor leagues in sports?We examine some options and come to the inevitable question for many people: how do I get into the minor leagues, period? What are the obstacles for your average creative worker, and how can we overcome those obstacles?The answers we foun
Macroeconomics for Creatives
The median income for all employed artists in all domains according to the NEA in 2023 was $70,170. Meanwhile, the value that all of that creativity delivers to the economy in the US (sorry Canada and Europe…more data to come) is $1.2 trillion.Does that feel like a disparity?It does to the Gifted Underachievers.Is it going to get worse now that Trump cut nearly all arts funding?You betcha.What can
Free John Irving! (silly)
After 100 episodes the gifted underachievers have decided it is time to release John Irving from controlled captivity in the Gifted Underachievers’ clubhouse.*This is it. As of June 18, 2006, John Irving will be free.Shockingly, Irving has still managed to be unbelievably productive.Questions for Listeners:* We’ve enjoyed ‘hosting’ the big man…have you had some fun, too?For Further Exploration:The
Growth Plans for Creatives
James and Pat ask questions, discuss options, and debate financial and productivity growth plans for creatives.The debate: Pat must convince James that it’s possible to have a growth plan for purely creative work.The plans: Pat and James run through their respective growth plans for BOTH their creative-adjacent and purely creative work.For both: How to find more capacity to do more and better work
When to Ditch or Delay a Creative Project
The gifted underachievers have lots of ideas. We’re not saying they’re good ideas, but sometimes you don’t know how a creative project’s going to work out until you do it. If you get partway into the project and discover you no longer care, is it time to ditch it? Or are there other things you can do?How about when you have two equally interesting ideas at the same time—which one do you work on fi
Podcasters vs. the HR Department
The Gifted Underachievers’ corporate HR Rep has installed a livestream device in the content creation clubhouse, pissing off the two biggest GUs in the whole org chart. Listen to Pat and James discuss their options in this battle royale with HR.Questions for Listeners:Do you think podcasters should have complete creative control of their content? YES or NO.Why?Buy HR a Coffee and Win a BookHR is f
Our Minds Need a Break
After a very busy and at times emotionally challenging past year, the Gifted Underachievers discuss what it felt like to be a kid looking forward to summer vacation and how even during the busy end of school, that thought provided a mental break.But at this time of life—adulthood generally—there isn’t a summer long vacation spanning out ahead of us. Instead, we are busy with work and all of our re
Contests & Grant Apps: Who’s Your Audience?
Two experiments are running in the GU Clubhouse, each with the goal of developing an extra income stream and getting some new lines on our creative CVs. Our grant experiment started in September 2024 and we began entering writing contests in October 2025. Both are ongoing.Both have had “mixed” results (aka no money earned, but many lessons learned).In this segment, we discuss the key takeaways in
Throat Clearing Silliness
Pat is lecturing James on the difference between a sweater, a Jumper, and Kurdistan when her throat seizes sending the Gifted Underachievers down yet another rabbit hole.Questions for Listeners:* What’s your favorite throat clearing technique?* Tea?* Warm lemon water with honey?Buy us a Coffee and Win a BookHere in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative gu
The Value of Pitching to Non-Artists
A brief conversation with an avid reader leads Dobes to a valuable insight about pitching ideas to your audience: sometimes it takes an ‘outsider’ to the field to see problems with your approach.This leads your Gifted Underachievers to question the habit of pitching our story ideas to industry insiders—in the case of writers, we might describe our project to other writers, publishers, or agents, w
Go in Hot: Lessons from a Creative Retreat
Gifted Underachiever Dobes returns from a month-long creative retreat (with some remote work sprinkled in) bearing pure gold—golden advice, that is! She got a fair amount of work done on her novel, though not as much as she’d hoped to get done. In this segment, we discuss the situation and “unpack” the lessons learned.Questions for Listeners:* Have you ever taken a creative retreat?* If yes, did y
How to F*ck Up and Survive the Experience
You might not believe this, but it’s true: We Gifted Underachievers sometimes make mistakes. In this segment, we discuss why mistakes happen, what to do when you realize you’ve made one, and how to not just survive the experience, but learn from it.Questions for Listeners:* What’s the worst mistake you’ve made at your creative or creative-adjacent work?* Were there extenuating circumstances?* What
Kath Montstream
After a hectic few weeks (lifetime, really) the Gifted Underachievers gave in to their underachieverness and are taking a week off for calm reflection.But with soooooo much wonderful content over our TWO YEARS!!!!!! we couldn’t leave a total void.Our interview with wildly achieving Burlington, Vermont, artist Kath Montstream (first aired on October 7, 2024) was a ton of fun and filled with lots of
What Makes Your Creative Work Matter?
James comes out of the marketing wing of the Gifted Underachiever clubhouse feeling disillusioned. The marketers are coming up with catchphrases, but they’re not producing anything. He wants to know, “What makes my creative work matter?”Pat can sympathize, but she’s got no real answers except that while you’re creating something, it has to matter to you.We do many projects that never achieve monet
Fearless Dumb Questions
Yes, even bright, well-intentioned people can display an uncharacteristic ability to ask dumb questions. We do it at work and at home. (And if you do that of your teenaged children, you know what the punishment is for a dumb question.)In fact, at one of James’s first ghostwriting gigs, the editor’s biggest question was “would you be afraid to ask dumb questions?”James said, NO! And he was hired.In
We are Nymphs ... & That's OK
Well, we’re not proud of this, but here in the Gifted Underachiever Clubhouse we’re starting to believe we might never blossom into our full creative potential.James has delusions about being a giant bead head (an artificial nymph fly-fishers use). After all, if you’re going to be a nymph, you might as well be a giant fake one. In this short segment, we ask ourselves, do we have what it takes to b
Cuts to Arts & Adapting Business Strategy
Trump and Republicans decimated funding for the arts in the US with immediate impacts to creatives. This is a loss not just to artists and other creatives but society as a whole. We are a not a better country for this.And yet, creatives are doing what we do best: Adapt.There are signs that a range of creative businesses are adapting their business strategies and planning to adjust to this loss of
Pension Projects for Creatives
Pat is excellent at thinking ahead and taking action to help herself down the road. Her month-long writing trip to [undisclosed location on the Spanish coast] is a shiny example. She set up a set of projects to help her pay and organize for her trip many months ago and the payoff has been a big boon.In this segment, Pat describes how she approaches saving for large purchases and retirement with wh
Stress and Brain Function
Both Gifted Underachievers have been through chronic stress for extended periods, and yes, it’s made us even less achieving than we normally are.We discuss this, hope for the best, and, in an unprecedented move for GU, Pat parachutes in with an audio clip toward the end of the segment with some solid tips for combating chronic stress!Questions for Listeners:* What’s your best strategy for combatin
What's Your Biggest Creative Fear?
We all have fears. If you don’t, check to see if you might either be a sociopath or the poster child for the Dunning-Krueger effect.In this brief segment, Pat and James explore their biggest fears and how they manage them. The GU team found it interesting that each underachiever’s fears fit two broad categories: * screwing up leading to retribution, and* the fading of creative drive and skillsQues
Creative Retreat: A Case Study
Despite what James claims to see on the screen as this episode is getting taped, there’s no tequila in Pat’s apartment during her creative retreat in Spain (that’s right, we’re giving away the location). Dobes has been a long time without a vacation, and this is exactly where she wants to be. Her time is her own for the first time in a quarter century. She’s making progress on a novel and on other
Protect Your Intellectual Property
You may know of a few online platforms that match up creative service providers with clients who need help with their projects—writing a book, creating a brand image, graphic design, music production, and so on. It’s normal in this type of partnership to have a non-disclosure agreement between creative and client. Both also agree to work within the platform’s rules around payment and other aspects
How to Juggle Many Projects at Once
James has taken on a rational amount of work in the last several months, but some of the projects that have left his hands have entered new phases that require his magic touch.Pat has current client work as well as non-optional personal projects, and all of these need her attention now.When you’re in this situation, you really don’t have time for things that can throw you off: unnecessary phone ca
Both Lived and Professional Experience Matter
Both of the Gifted Underachievers have personal lives as well as their professional creative and creative-adjacent work. We’ve both had careers in other industries before entering the writing arena—James as a journalist, and Pat as a logistics manager for international conferences and trade shows.In this segment, we discuss how our backgrounds didn’t just teach us myriad skills that come in handy
Work for Free? Depends
In her creative-adjacent work as a developmental book editor and consultant, it is common for Pat to offer prospective clients a sample edit. In fact, it is her policy. In James’s work as a ghostwriter, it is common for prospective clients to ask him to produce a bit of sample writing. The gifted underachievers agree that it’s important to help prospective clients perform their due diligence so th
Creative Trip Prep: Nitty Gritty Edition
Pat is on the verge of leaving for [undisclosed location] for a month-long writing vacation. Think of it as a self-sponsored writer’s residency without other people except for the very lovely locals.However, with a busy and time-consuming creative adjacent business composed of numerous clients, incoming work proposals, and multiple deadlines, how is Pat creating the space to ensure this trip goes
Banish Self-Sabotage in Grant Applications
The grant experiment has been a mixed success. Let’s just call it a near-failure. Let’s just call it a nightmare. James has applied with equanimity, while Dobes (Pat) has let the sheer amount of fruitless work involved get her down. In this short segment, we talk about her resulting self-sabotage and learned helplessness, and what happened with a recent grant application she assumed would be an ea
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