Just from writing out the script and listening back to the recording, I could tell the second episode was (unsurprisingly/thankfully) going to better than the first. It was longer, more personal, and more actionable.

And that was the last thing I thought about the podcast before I realized I needed to shut it down.

TWKY is Dead. Long Live TWKY

Like reading an historical biography, the ending was spoiled before you ever started reading. You already knew that TWKY was never meant to be.

But if we were getting positive reviews and things seemed to be going well, why did I abandon the project?

The main reason was simply that the project was too ambitious. At the outset, I figured a 10–15 minute narrative podcast (even if it required a bit of writing and audio editing on my end) couldn’t be that difficult. But I was wrong.

I underestimated the amount of time required to schedule guests, do research, conduct interviews, write a script, record Julia and my portions, edit and mix, create the blog component, and of course, promote it.

When I write all that down — it certainly seems obvious how much work would be involved. But in September, when I came up with the podcast, I was so excited about the idea of the finished product that I hadn’t taken any time to consider the amount of work involved.

So What Did I Learn (aka The Good Good)?

There wouldn’t be any point in publishing this mammoth essay (except for my own self-gratification) if I didn’t learn something along the way. Right?

Right.

It’s OK to outsource

I could have easily taken some of the work off my plate if I had gotten others involved with the project. Maybe someone else could have edited the show (better and faster than I could). Maybe I could have found someone to transcribe the audio.

Sure, that most likely wouldn’t be free, but sometimes you need to invest in more than just a microphone and domain name if you want to be successful.

In the future, I would definitely find free or paid help on some of the tasks that were stressing me out.

I don’t have to do it like everyone else

A lot of the podcasts that inspired this project are released on a weekly schedule. That works for them, but it doesn’t mean it works for me. Steven Dubner (Freakonomics) and Roman Mars (99% Invisible) don’t work a 9–5 job. They have time (and an entire team) dedicated to producing their weekly podcast.

As I plan my future podcast, I’ve come to terms with the fact that a weekly release with no set end (while attractive) probably isn’t feasible. And while maybe it wasn’t my “ideal,” it would have better to release monthly episodes or do a set season versus get overwhelmed and release nothing (simply because I can’t meet some arbitrary goal that Roman Mars can).

Nothing is ever wasted

It sucks that I spent $271.99 and didn’t release a single podcast episode. But that doesn’t mean I flushed money down the toilet.

I’ve found ways to put the microphone to work (I used it to record my Better Blog Course lessons and random interviews) and use the branding I paid for. (I featured the art on a limited edition tee).

Julia modeling for the I’m Making All This Up tee

The domain name’s still sitting there doing nothing, but it’s a good one…and it’s mine.

Of course, I invested more than just money into the project. I put 50 hours into the podcast and have little show for it. But just because I don’t have physical proof of that time doesn’t mean it was wasted. I learned the basics of Adobe Audition (which I used over Audacity because I already pay for Creative Cloud), I got good feedback on how to make a narrative podcast, and now, I know the process for next time.

I also got this super long article out of it…

Do You Have to Finish What You Start?

That’s the question all this has been building towards.

The answer — sometimes.

It’s a problem I have. I never want to finish what I start. I love coming up with new ideas and imagining the possibilities, but when it comes to actually doing the hard work, I start daydreaming about the next thing.

But most things worth doing are hard. If I always gave up when the going got tough, I’d never have published a book, created an online course, or started my blog.

But I felt justified in giving up on this project because I’d rather not do a podcast than release a podcast that felt rushed, half-baked, or inconsistent. Then again, I was only afraid that the podcast would end up that way because I’d set an ambitious (if not unachievable) goal. I was setting myself up for failure by stubbornly sticking to a plan I’d created before I understood the process.