Skip to the Fun Parts - by Dana Jeri Maier (Paperback)

About the Book

"Like you, syndicated cartoonist Dana Maier wants a creativity shortcut---a magical fairy who will both come up with brilliant ideas and grant the energy and discipline to churn them out. This book is not that magical shortcut---you won't find stirring literary quotes or a foolproof system for sparking inspiration here---but it does provide commiseration, comics, jokes, and reflections about the often-painful act of making something original. Drawing on her experience as a cartoonist for The New Yorker and other publications, Maier explores topics such as embracing the agony of the creative process, how the pandemic has affected creative people in different ways, and the power of channeling your inner six-year-old. While more traditional creativity guides often make readers feel judged, Skip to the Fun Parts offers amusing insights about the realities of the creative process---highly entertaining for artists of all kinds and 100% advice-free!"--

Book Synopsis

The perfect companion for anyone struggling to keep their sense of humor while staring at a blank page, Skip to the Fun Parts offers next-to-zero creative advice, and is instead filled with cartoons, commiserations, and jokes about the creative process.

Like you, syndicated cartoonist Dana Maier wants a creativity shortcut--a magical fairy who will both come up with brilliant ideas and grant the energy and discipline to churn them out. This book is not that magical shortcut--you won't find stirring literary quotes or a foolproof system for sparking inspiration here--but it does provide commiseration, comics, jokes, and reflections about the often-painful act of making something original.

Drawing on her experience as a cartoonist for The New Yorker and other publications, Maier explores topics such as embracing the agony of the creative process, how the pandemic has affected creative people in different ways, and the power of channeling your inner six-year-old. While more traditional creativity guides often make readers feel judged, Skip to the Fun Parts offers amusing insights about the realities of the creative process--highly entertaining for artists of all kinds and 100% advice-free!

"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, New York Times bestselling author of Am I There Yet? and My Inner Sky

"A funny, irreverent sendup of creative self-help and a comforting depiction of the agony and ecstasy in the creative process."
--Austin Kleon, New York Times bestselling author of STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST

Review Quotes

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

About the Author

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.