Venus is a lonely planet. Its surface has remained unseen by any living being’s eyes save for a few photographs from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Looking at those photos makes me feel things, things I talk about in this episode — along with some basic steps you can take to start putting your art out into the world where it can connect with new fans and admirers.

Imposter syndrome isn’t what you think it is. You’re tricking yourself into forgetting all the hard work you’ve done. We’ll explore it in this episode, along with the flaws of perfection, the importance of revision, and loving the process. Plus: a party!

Let’s talk about the time a professional cartoonist was mean to me when I was a child. After I get that one off my chest, we’ll also discuss how collaboration can make you a better creative, tricking your brain into beating procrastination, and why being lazy AF can actually be a positive.

What happens when you get creatively stuck? What’s the cure for writer’s block? Not only do we dedicate this whole episode to exploring solutions for this common creative problem, I also mispronounce a common word and didn’t have an alternate take that could be used for a fix. See if you can spot it.

In the most profane episode of the season (featuring a solid 13 F-bombs), we’ll get our creative project’s game plan together, follow our many fears while thinking about Luke Skywalker, and compare your ego to food coloring.

Inspiration is a magical, elusive, sparkly unicorn. But the sooner you can let go of trying to catch it, the sooner you can get started creating. Also in this episode: more ways to come up with ideas, what to do about bad ideas, when influence becomes theft, and a note about AI.

The first step in being creative is finding the idea. The spark. The seed. And there are a million ways to start. This episode is 30 minutes dedicated solely to methods of coming up with new ideas for your next project.

We’d all love to make a living doing creative, artistic things. But the devastating reality is that most of us still need a day job. Everything’s gonna be OK. Just take a couple deep breaths and join me for this episode where I help you make it all work — plus we’ll talk about skill vs. talent, and I’ll give you an important motto for your creative journey.