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Skip to the Fun Parts: Cartoons and Complaints About the Creative Process
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
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
128 pages, Paperback
Published May 9, 2023
3 people are currently reading
2125 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 22, 2025
I think I’ll be thinking about the essay on being motivated by a nemesis from now until the end of time. The section on procrastination also hit a little too close to home - especially since I was, fittingly, procrastinating by reading this book instead of doing something else. Smart, funny, and painfully relatable in all the right ways.
May 12, 2023
3.5 stars.
It's fitting that there's an entire section on relatability in this part-cartoon, part-essay treatise on struggling with the muse. Skip To The Fun Parts is so deeply relatable for any creative who's ever suffered from self-doubt -- so, every creative -- that it feels like Dana Jeri Maier has been watching me try to work and procrastinate and hate myself for not being superhuman. Most importantly tho, this book is her way of saying "I see you and I understand what you're going through." And honestly that's a really valuable thing to have.
The short essays on the steps of the creative process are broken up by Ms Maier's cartoons and doodles. The cartoons are as eminently relatable as the essays, tho I found the doodles to be a little less so. They're filler, and they're fine. Preexisting fans of Ms Maier's work will love their inclusion here. Will they make fans out of people less familiar with her work? As someone who tends to place more importance on words than art, I can only safely say that her essays, at least, have made me take positive note of her work overall.
It helps, of course, that we've both lived and worked in Washington DC and its surrounding neighborhoods. So much of her life as described in this book feels intimately familiar to me, as she discusses commuting to a desk job, the impact of the pandemic, and how all that affected her creative work. But even divorced from these specifics, this book has lots to say about the joys and terrors of working in a creative field (tho mostly, let's be honest, the latter.)
Because it's hard, y'all! Book criticism is easily the least complicated of the creative work I do, and even that struggles to overwhelm me on the regular. At present, my weekly newsletter is a shambles, and I haven't done any writing for role playing games in weeks! I'm a mess! But this book helped me feel less pitiful and alone. Other people have felt this defeated, too! And, miraculously, have come out the other side feeling better and happy and with, gasp, finished work in their hands!
And I'll be blunt, this book was the perfect (short) length to get my mind off my troubles for a bit while still helping me feel productive. I mean, I read it with the intent of ticking off another box in my book criticism column, but it felt genuinely helpful in encouraging me to tackle my other creative work, and to forgive myself for not being perfect. It's weird, too, the amount of pressure I put on myself, given how little money I make from the process. The book inspired me to ask, via its similarly titled chapter, "Who am I creating for?" Yes, there are people who pay me a pittance for what I do, but the main person I'm trying to satisfy is myself, and I really ought to be kinder to me, just as a general practice.
Anyway, this book is the perfect pick-me-up for the overwhelmed creative in your life, who definitely needs both a little break and a reminder that they're not alone in feeling tired or frustrated or burned out. It might not solve any other problems, but just knowing you're seen, in an industry that can often feel very solitary, is tremendously meaningful.
Skip To The Fun Parts: Cartoons And Complaints About The Creative Process by Dana Jeri Maier was published May 9 2023 by Andrews McMeel Publishing and is available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!
This review first appeared at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.
It's fitting that there's an entire section on relatability in this part-cartoon, part-essay treatise on struggling with the muse. Skip To The Fun Parts is so deeply relatable for any creative who's ever suffered from self-doubt -- so, every creative -- that it feels like Dana Jeri Maier has been watching me try to work and procrastinate and hate myself for not being superhuman. Most importantly tho, this book is her way of saying "I see you and I understand what you're going through." And honestly that's a really valuable thing to have.
The short essays on the steps of the creative process are broken up by Ms Maier's cartoons and doodles. The cartoons are as eminently relatable as the essays, tho I found the doodles to be a little less so. They're filler, and they're fine. Preexisting fans of Ms Maier's work will love their inclusion here. Will they make fans out of people less familiar with her work? As someone who tends to place more importance on words than art, I can only safely say that her essays, at least, have made me take positive note of her work overall.
It helps, of course, that we've both lived and worked in Washington DC and its surrounding neighborhoods. So much of her life as described in this book feels intimately familiar to me, as she discusses commuting to a desk job, the impact of the pandemic, and how all that affected her creative work. But even divorced from these specifics, this book has lots to say about the joys and terrors of working in a creative field (tho mostly, let's be honest, the latter.)
Because it's hard, y'all! Book criticism is easily the least complicated of the creative work I do, and even that struggles to overwhelm me on the regular. At present, my weekly newsletter is a shambles, and I haven't done any writing for role playing games in weeks! I'm a mess! But this book helped me feel less pitiful and alone. Other people have felt this defeated, too! And, miraculously, have come out the other side feeling better and happy and with, gasp, finished work in their hands!
And I'll be blunt, this book was the perfect (short) length to get my mind off my troubles for a bit while still helping me feel productive. I mean, I read it with the intent of ticking off another box in my book criticism column, but it felt genuinely helpful in encouraging me to tackle my other creative work, and to forgive myself for not being perfect. It's weird, too, the amount of pressure I put on myself, given how little money I make from the process. The book inspired me to ask, via its similarly titled chapter, "Who am I creating for?" Yes, there are people who pay me a pittance for what I do, but the main person I'm trying to satisfy is myself, and I really ought to be kinder to me, just as a general practice.
Anyway, this book is the perfect pick-me-up for the overwhelmed creative in your life, who definitely needs both a little break and a reminder that they're not alone in feeling tired or frustrated or burned out. It might not solve any other problems, but just knowing you're seen, in an industry that can often feel very solitary, is tremendously meaningful.
Skip To The Fun Parts: Cartoons And Complaints About The Creative Process by Dana Jeri Maier was published May 9 2023 by Andrews McMeel Publishing and is available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!
This review first appeared at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.
May 13, 2023
Dana Jeri Maier knows what it’s like to make bad art. She knows what it’s like to make okay art. She knows what it’s like to procrastinate and internet surf and be a paper snob and doodle on the backs of envelopes. She knows all this because she is an artist.
As an artist who has created comics for The New Yorker and other publications as well as her own comics, Maier understands how to get through the dry times as an artist. She has faced her self-doubts and her struggles for inspiration. She knows what she needs to refill her own tank, and she knows when to troll her fake enemy for some resentment fueled creation (he’s not so much an enemy as someone who she feels makes inferior art but gets lots of internet love, so she considers him an enemy). In other words, she has figured out how to make the artist’s life work for her.
She may spend a lot of time making doodles of fish. She may argue with herself about whether she should make it a job and show up at the same time everyday or walk away for inspiration and wait for the ideas to come to her. She may not be moved by big museum pieces by “important” painters and their pretentions for telling how others should react to their work. But she knows what she likes, whether it’s a sculpture in the National Gallery of Art or a book written and illustrated by a 6-year-old.
Skip to the Fun Parts is a clever, honest, funny, moving look at the inner workings of an artist’s brain. Maier opens up some of her life and her work and shows us through short essays and cartoons what it means to her to be an artist and how a creative life works for her. It would be helpful to artists just starting out and trying to find some compassion for their attempts at art, like those in art school or considering it, or for anyone who wants to find more creativity in their life or on their vision boards.
This is a quick read, and a little cynical in places. Maier is hard on herself, but she is able to live a good life making and selling art. I hope that writing and publishing this book has helped her see how successful she really is. This is an accomplishment, and it’s totally okay to stay in bed with the cat in the morning, no matter how early other artists get up and get started. Cat time is worth it.
Egalleys for Skip to the Fun Parts were provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley, with many thanks.
As an artist who has created comics for The New Yorker and other publications as well as her own comics, Maier understands how to get through the dry times as an artist. She has faced her self-doubts and her struggles for inspiration. She knows what she needs to refill her own tank, and she knows when to troll her fake enemy for some resentment fueled creation (he’s not so much an enemy as someone who she feels makes inferior art but gets lots of internet love, so she considers him an enemy). In other words, she has figured out how to make the artist’s life work for her.
She may spend a lot of time making doodles of fish. She may argue with herself about whether she should make it a job and show up at the same time everyday or walk away for inspiration and wait for the ideas to come to her. She may not be moved by big museum pieces by “important” painters and their pretentions for telling how others should react to their work. But she knows what she likes, whether it’s a sculpture in the National Gallery of Art or a book written and illustrated by a 6-year-old.
Skip to the Fun Parts is a clever, honest, funny, moving look at the inner workings of an artist’s brain. Maier opens up some of her life and her work and shows us through short essays and cartoons what it means to her to be an artist and how a creative life works for her. It would be helpful to artists just starting out and trying to find some compassion for their attempts at art, like those in art school or considering it, or for anyone who wants to find more creativity in their life or on their vision boards.
This is a quick read, and a little cynical in places. Maier is hard on herself, but she is able to live a good life making and selling art. I hope that writing and publishing this book has helped her see how successful she really is. This is an accomplishment, and it’s totally okay to stay in bed with the cat in the morning, no matter how early other artists get up and get started. Cat time is worth it.
Egalleys for Skip to the Fun Parts were provided by Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley, with many thanks.
March 6, 2024
A quick read, punctuated by fish. Lots of fish. Fish are the author’s go-to doodle (a word neither of us likes), and around the 80th or so fish I got the feeling this book was an assignment or something meant to fulfill a contract. At the very least, it was a very meta exercise in procrastination (a topic that, ironically or not, goes on way too long in the book). I kept wanting to skip to the fun parts, of which there were too few.
I am not a ‘creative,’ so I am not exactly the audience for this book; I saw it on display at the library and took it home. Take that with the salt it deserves. I do not care for the author’s primitive/grotesque illustration style, but I do think her handful of essays are terrific. (The one on the motivating power of a nemesis is particularly good.) I would gladly read more of them—unpopular opinion, that she is a better writer than artist—but in contrast, it felt as though the drawings, including all those fish, were padding to create a full-length product.
I am not a ‘creative,’ so I am not exactly the audience for this book; I saw it on display at the library and took it home. Take that with the salt it deserves. I do not care for the author’s primitive/grotesque illustration style, but I do think her handful of essays are terrific. (The one on the motivating power of a nemesis is particularly good.) I would gladly read more of them—unpopular opinion, that she is a better writer than artist—but in contrast, it felt as though the drawings, including all those fish, were padding to create a full-length product.
July 13, 2023
Honestly did not think the book was for folks who are not from creative art fields, but it is a great read for everyone!
Witty, funny and profound. Loved the cartoons, especially from the chapters related to types of procrastinators and the commuter train writer. Anyone who has struggled with motivation, low productivity or fear of failure will find this book relatable and inspirational!
If you are feeling overwhelmed at work or home, read this to take comfort in numbers - that countless others also.share your struggles. Read it for a dash of joy and humor that will brighten your day instantly.
Witty, funny and profound. Loved the cartoons, especially from the chapters related to types of procrastinators and the commuter train writer. Anyone who has struggled with motivation, low productivity or fear of failure will find this book relatable and inspirational!
If you are feeling overwhelmed at work or home, read this to take comfort in numbers - that countless others also.share your struggles. Read it for a dash of joy and humor that will brighten your day instantly.
August 6, 2024
a HOOT to read! instead of the "helpful hints" to be creative: images and captions about the process--which in some cases for me were SO true but i'd not articulated nor noticed the variations--particularly the run on procrastination! the silliness of a lot of ideas, like crystals et al that are supposed to help, or charts that seem useful but turn out to not be. in a sense--the Nike Just Do It motto--notice what's getting in the way and then clamber over it en route to trying to get your art out. A book to keep on the shelf and pull out when staring at a blank piece of paper, to giggle and then try again!
February 26, 2023
This was a quick but good read. This was a bit different than most books I've read on creativity. As the blurb says, there was not a lot of creative advice, and it focused on jokes about the creative process. It almost seemed like Dana wanted the readers to embrace the struggle of the creative process. Some of the things mentioned were relatable, but for some reason, this book kept me wanting more. It felt like something was missing.
*Thank you, NetGalley, for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.*
*Thank you, NetGalley, for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.*
May 23, 2023
Any budding cartoonist should know that any seasoned cartoonist would nod knowingly throughout this book, about the struggles to express original and creative ideas. We are blessed with a frank, funny and apparently fearless description of the creative life of one of our great rising cartoonists. Anyone thinking of going into such a career, or just cartooning curious, will find out more than they thought they ever wanted to know about the craft. It can be a lonely quest, but anyone who has the bug will see here they are not alone.
June 21, 2023
Once it’s out in the world, it’s not up to you anymore…and isn’t that the best part?….. I loved that line in this muse-y, inky book. In fact I checked my hands after I read it to see if I had ink on them, that’s how fresh and real this one felt. I think anyone who does creative work would enjoy this friendly chat about the process. I also liked the tip about the Blackwing Pearl pencils. As soon as I get back from robbing the bank, I’m going to pick some up.
May 10, 2023
While many books on creativity offer advice and techniques, this one takes a more humorous approach, filled with cartoons and jokes that poke fun at the struggles of creating. Skip to the Fun Parts by Dana Jeri Maier was an enjoyable and entertaining read that provided me some much-needed comic relief during an emotional month.
February 25, 2025
While many books on creativity offer advice and techniques, this one takes a more humorous approach, filled with cartoons and jokes that poke fun at the struggles of creating. Skip to the Fun Parts by Dana Jeri Maier was an enjoyable and entertaining read that provided me some much-needed comic relief during an emotional month.
May 8, 2023
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and I am thankful for the "detour" from criticizing my creative efforts. It was both a mild distraction and also shedding a spotlight on my own struggles putting pen to paper...or paint to canvas...or...well, you get the point.
January 24, 2024
What I sent to my NaNoWriMo group after finishing this book:
This book wasn’t about fiction writing specifically, but I read it in about an hour tonight and it made me think of all of you and our creative processes. Recommended!
This book wasn’t about fiction writing specifically, but I read it in about an hour tonight and it made me think of all of you and our creative processes. Recommended!
July 25, 2025
Dana wrote the one of the most honest books on creativity I've ever read. It's an ugly process, never pretty, and Dana pulls no punches about what it means to be a creative person — and how to be a creative person — in this moment
January 29, 2026
I SO needed this book! I can’t even say why. I just needed it. It spoke to my heart about all of the things I’m too afraid to try or worry over not doing well enough and it made my heart laugh. I haven’t felt that relief in a long time. Thank you Dana.
February 1, 2023
The book is quite funny and there were some good jokes. The writing on the cartoons was sometimes hard to read
June 28, 2023
A well-crafted, light-hearted look at the artistic process that balances somewhere between self-help/inspiration/humor and memoir.
July 18, 2023
Great read
July 25, 2023
Yes, I can relate . . .
p-h, s-n, v-n
p-h, s-n, v-n
August 19, 2023
By a friend of mine, but I enjoyed it.
September 7, 2023
Lol and also succeeds in its mission of not offering advice but being inspiring and incredibly relatable.
October 7, 2025
“The Usefulness of Nemesis” - finally, a motivational book that gets it.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews