Tangent: New Atheism (Patreon)

Hi friends!

Here's the January tangent, on New Atheism!

Working on these first two Tangents has been very freeing for me. Creating Patreon-exclusive content has relieved me of the creative paralysis that I've been experiencing with main-channel videos, where I feel like I have to meet a very high standard of research, fact-checking, production quality, and originality.

I begin making each Tangent with the mindset that I'm creating "mid" content to meet a deadline—which turns out to be a helpful mindset for my productivity. These first two tangents have each taken a few days of very intense work, but I think the result is a video that's comparable to what would have been a main-channel video five years ago.

Some patrons have expressed that they think the Tangents should be public, since they want to be able to share them. I'm torn between, on one hand, feeling like I've found a way to trick myself into producing consistent content on a deadline (something I've been struggling with for a couple years now); and on the other hand, not wanting to make the Tangents public, since that defeats the purpose of Patreon-exclusive content. A possible compromise might be to make the Tangents public after a month or so—though I still worry that wouldn't be "exclusive" enough to justify the Patreon subscription.

I'd prefer to just post main channel videos more frequently and shake this perfectionist paralysis that's been holding me back these last few years. The Tangents feel like good practice. But I don't want to put the majority of my creative output behind a paywall.

I'm not yet sure what the solution is, but I think the Tangents are a step in the right direction. The feedback you all gave me on the December Tangent was very positive, and I hope you enjoy this one too!

Let me know what you think, and as always thank you so much for your support.

All the best,

Natalie