What We've Learned from Ten Years of Writing

You’re Allowed to Speak Before You’re an Expert

What if you didn’t have to know everything before you were allowed to speak? In this episode, we talk about the way artists and thinkers self-censor when they’re afraid of being wrong, mocked, misunderstood, or exposed as “not expert enough.” We discuss over-researching as a form of perfectionism, the gatekeeping of big ideas, and why making things simple is not the same as dumbing them down. We also talk about work, economics, class, gender, Fully Automated Luxury Communism, and the kind of future artists might be brave enough to imagine if we stopped waiting for permission from the serious people. Your ideas are allowed to be alive before they are flawless. Order Amie’s book We Need Your Art: https://www.amiemcnee.com/order-we-need-your-art-book-amie-mcnee [https://www.amiemcnee.com/order-we-need-your-art-book-amie-mcnee] Read Amie’s Substack: https://substack.com/@amiemcnee [https://substack.com/@amiemcnee]

How to Become an Anti-fragile Artist

What if rejection wasn't bad news? What if chaos, disappointment and rejection could become part of your creative power? What if the more 'bad stuff' that happens to you, the more brilliant you become? In this episode, we explore the idea of the anti-fragile creator: the artist who does not simply endure difficulty, but learns, adapts, expands and becomes more themselves because of it. We talk about rejection, self-publishing, the fragility of creative industries, the danger of needing permission, and why artists need curiosity more than thick skin. Order Amie’s book We Need Your Art: https://www.amiemcnee.com/order-we-need-your-art-book-amie-mcnee [https://www.amiemcnee.com/order-we-need-your-art-book-amie-mcnee] Read Amie’s Substack: https://substack.com/@amiemcnee [https://substack.com/@amiemcnee]

What You Consume Is What You Create

We're recording from a hotel room with questionable acoustics and a very concerned James. Welcome to the Hotel Season! In Episode 1, Amie makes the case that if you want to be a serious artist, you need to be an equally serious consumer, not just of your own genre, but of everything you want to see more of in the world. We get into why consuming great work is more useful than craft content, the stress of reading Robin Hobb when you're trying to write your own novel, how to have a genuinely good scroll on social media, and why the attention you give is the culture you're actually building. Be OUR favourite consumer, READ We Need Your Art: https://www.amiemcnee.com/order-we-need-your-art-book-amie-mcnee

Become Confident or Die

We're back! Topics: Creating while travelling/busy The importance of confidence in your own work Whether James' justice streak makes his life harder (feat. sauan etiquette) And lessons from the biggest year of our life I Don't Want a Job, the book [https://www.poundproject.co.uk/i-dont-want-a-job], is available for the next two weeks only! Also available, cool t-shirts, a masterclass with Amie, and signed copies! Read the original essay here [https://amiemcnee.substack.com/p/i-didnt-want-a-job]

What We've Learned from Ten Years of Writing

We take you on a journey from Amie's first painful attempt to write a book to now, Amie's settled routine as a professional author, with all the steps along the way. Pre-order To Kill a Queen now [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/800252/to-kill-a-queen-by-amie-mcnee/] Join Amie in Barcelona [https://www.backstorybookshop.com/event-details-registration/we-need-your-art-stop-messing-around-and-make-something] for a book event on Friday November 7th!