Skip to the Fun Parts

Of all the books I’ve ever read on the creative process (and I’ve read every one), this is by far the most useful, for its ability to remind me why we make art in the first place. I know I will turn to it again and again whenever I need to re-ignite the spark of childlike joy that fuels creativity. (Mari Andrew, NYT bestselling author of Am I There Yet? and My Inner Sky, Review quote)We all know “how to be creative” books are bullshit.* Dana Jeri Maier knows it too: instead of advice, she offers comisseration—the knowing, rueful, funny kind only a fellow artist can offer. Skip to the Fun Parts isn’t predicated on you waking up tomorrow as a far more disciplined, organized, motivated person than you’ve ever shown any sign of becoming; it accepts that you are lazy and negligent and easily distracted. It’ll make you laugh, and nod, and wince just a bit; it might even help. (Tim Kreider, author of I Wrote This Book Because I Love You and We Learn Nothing, Review quote)A funny, irreverent sendup of creative self-help and a comforting depiction of the agony and ecstasy in the creative process. I found a lot to steal! (Austin Kleon, NYT bestselling author of STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST, Review quote)Part memoir and part commentary, Dana Maier’s insightful, laugh-inspiring and delightfully illustrated observations are perfect for artists and non-scribblers alike. (Nick Galifianakis, Rueben-award winning cartoonist with the Washington Post, Review quote)A relief and an antidote to bullshit. Maier’s comics don’t try to prop you up with inspirational platitudes, they sit with you and caterwaul about how being an artist feels like hell. Luckily this book also provides professional advice, such as: it can be motivating to have a nemesis, sometimes it’s helpful to stare at a famous work of art and think about how ugly it is, and when in doubt, draw a bunch of weird fish. (Lisa Hanawalt, creator of Tuca and Bertie and production designer of Bojack Horseman, Review quote)

Dana Jeri Maier is an artist, cartoonist, and author whose work explores the agony and joy of our modern life. Whether it’s her viral cartoons for The New Yorker’s “Shouts and Murmurs”, her syndicated cartoon series “The Worried Well”, or her artwork and murals for brands like Politics and Prose, The Phillips Collection, and CHIKO, Dana knows what it means to create (and struggle to create) art. She lives in Washington, D.C.