Blog
Articles on finishing self-generated work and building expertise-based creative businesses, with the Creative Engine, Ground Truth, and Capacity frameworks.
the autonomous creative
When to quit your day job (or when not to!), with Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson
Listen to the episode: Quitting your day job — That’s billed as the final frontier for artists. Proof of success. And if someone tells you not to? Generally an insult. But the reality of being a successful creative professional isn’t so black and white. Quitting your day job is a laudable goal (by all means, go for it!), but it’s not necessarily a measure of creative success. In fact, keeping that day job, whether full- or part-time, can be a catalyst for your creative work. From self-publishing to Big-5 book contracts “At the end of that year, we were having a great time. We were not making money, but we weren’t losing it.” Matthew Swanson What would you do if…
How to finish writing your novel: don’t write for free, with Alexander Chee
Listen to the episode: If you haven’t finished writing your novel yet, you could lay the blame on any of a myriad of reasons. You’ve got too many commitments, your day job or freelance work sucks up all your time, you’ve got kids, a spouse, friends (never mind your own physical and mental health) competing for your attention… …and then there’s your inner critic who loves to drop in during studio time, ready to light into you at the least provocation. Seems like it would take 12 years to finish a book under those conditions. (I mean, that’s how long it took me.) But don’t worry, you and I aren’t alone in this. “Sometimes people are like, how come The…