Look. We're back. New year. New host. And we opened the show with Ryan reading the dictionary definition of the word "we," which is either a bit or a cry for help — the line is thin and we're not here to judge. The point is: Mandy Fabian is here now, Misty is off surviving life at full speed, and we're all still pretending we know what we're doing creatively. (We don't. That's the show.)

Here's the thing about creative work that nobody tells you until you've already panicked about it seventeen times: you don't actually have to know what happens next. The writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation — a show that ran for seven seasons and won actual awards — would literally write "tech the tech" in the script when they didn't have the specific quantum warp polaron nonsense figured out yet. Grey's Anatomy? "Medical, medical, medical." These are real strategies used by professionals who got paid. The details came later. The momentum mattered now. This is permission. Take it.

We also answer a listener question that hits painfully close to home: what happens when you suddenly have all the time in the world to be creative and your brain immediately responds by doing absolutely nothing? Turns out "I can do anything" metabolizes into "I can't do anything" faster than you'd think.

We talk egg timers, scheduled creativity, and why imposing fake limitations on yourself might be the only way to survive unlimited freedom. And then, because we are who we are, we spend the last chunk of the episode pitching wildly different plays based on the same prompt — a veterinarian's office, three actors, and the opening line "Do you want the honest version or the one that'll let you sleep tonight?" Somehow we ended up with alien kittens, a ketamine heist, and a sentient skin rash that makes people act out telenovelas. This is the show. We're so glad you're here.

Smart People Who Said Smart Things:

• Ronald D. Moore — The "tech the tech" guy
• Shonda Rhimes — The "medical, medical, medical" queen
• Madeleine L'Engle — "Inspiration more often comes during the work than before it." Correct.
• Don Roos — Screenwriter behind the one-hour egg timer method: commit to one focused hour, let it grow if it wants to
• Steven Pressfield — Author of The War of Art, originator of "the resistance" as a concept for that voice in your head that tells you you're garbage

Places That Let Creatives Do Weird Things on Deadlines:

• Muse Fest at Space 55 (Phoenix) — Nine muses, nine responses, one week, no stakes, maximum creativity
• Phoenix Theater's 24-Hour Theater Project — Kyle wrote a 15-page script overnight and it was about a sentient skin rash. We'll explain.
• Series Fest / Tribeca / Frameline — Festivals Mandy is submitting her pilot to

Projects You Should Know About:

• StorySprawl — Pete's invite-only collaborative writing project where you never write what comes next, someone else does, and it's apparently liberating as hell
• You Are Here — Mandy's indie TV pilot, shot micro-budget over three days. Coming soon?
• The Black Cape Saga — Ryan's upcoming words! Mark your Goodreads!
• Go Help Yourself — Misty's podcast. Still running. Go listen if you miss her. We do.

Tools for People Who Need Structure:

• Obsidian — Kyle is migrating his notes here from Zoho Notebook and found a file from eight years ago that just said "This is where the good ideas go." Still waiting.
• The One-Hour Egg Timer Method — One hour. No phone. No errands. If it turns into three hours, great. If not, you did the hour. That's the whole thing. Sean Carlin has a good write-up here.

Public Domain Watch (From the Fake Sponsor):

• Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, Sam Spade — All entered public domain January 2026. Do something interesting with them. Please. No more horror movies.

• (00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos