MELANIE: Grandma, did you read the story I wrote for you?
GRANDMA: I DID, honey. It was a FAIR first draft.
But nothing of VALUE can EVER be created without SIGNIFICANT, LABORIOUS EFFORT.

GRANDMA: REVISE that story ’til it’s as GOOD as you can make it, then know that it’s STILL not good enough. You have to revise it again, and AGAIN, and AGAIN until you get SICK OF IT.
That’s how you prove you’re SERIOUS. If the process is FUN at all, you’re doing it wrong.
So, take another crack at the story, then BURN it because your first hundred stories will all be CRAP anyway.

MELANIE: But this IS my FIFTIETH draft!
I kept going back OVER it, never SATISFIED, being my own worst critic…
Then I thought, it’s SILLY to be so insecure! I’ll just SHOW it to her, she can’t just HATE IT OUTRIGHT
GRANDMA (interrupting): WRONG!

{{Header: crumple it up at WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{Alt-text: The story is entitled ‘A Bear and his Comically-Large Fedora Go to Disneyland: A Heavy-Handed Allegory About the War in Afghanistan’}}

#467; In which Melanie disappoints her Grandmother transcribed by in

MELANIE: Grandma, did you read the story I wrote for you?
GRANDMA: I DID, honey. It was a FAIR first draft.
But nothing of VALUE can EVER be created without SIGNIFICANT, LABORIOUS EFFORT.

{{Header: crumple it up at WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{Alt-text: The story is entitled ‘A Bear and his Comically-Large Fedora Go to Disneyland: A Heavy-Handed Allegory About the War in Afghanistan’}}

#467; In which Melanie disappoints her Grandmother transcribed by in

MELANIE: Grandma, did you read the story I wrote for you?
GRANDMA: I DID, honey. It was a FAIR first draft.
But nothing of VALUE can EVER be created without SIGNIFICANT, LABORIOUS EFFORT.

GRANDMA: REVISE that story 'til it's as GOOD as you can make it, then know that it's STILL not good enough. You have to revise it again, and AGAIN, and AGAIN until you get SICK OF IT.
That's how you prove you're SERIOUS. If the process is FUN at all, you're doing it wrong.
So, take another crack at the story, then BURN it because your first hundred stories will all be CRAP anyway.

MELANIE: But this IS my FIFTIETH draft!
I kept going back OVER it, never SATISFIED, being my own worst critic...
Then I thought, it's SILLY to be so insecure! I'll just SHOW it to her, she can't just HATE IT OUTRIGHT
GRANDMA (interrupting): WRONG!

{{Header: crumple it up at WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{Alt-text: The story is entitled 'A Bear and his Comically-Large Fedora Go to Disneyland: A Heavy-Handed Allegory About the War in Afghanistan'}}

the story is entitled 'A Bear and his Comically-Large Fedora Go to Disneyland: A Heavy-Handed Allegory about the War in Afghanistan'

#467; In which Melanie disappoints her Grandmother

— December 5th, 2008

[ Tags: children, delusion, theory ] Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/467/

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Applications open for Genius Northwest – an IRL gaming competition

May 8, 2026 by David Malki !

Last year, I participated in Genius Northwest, a gaming competition inspired by the Korean gameshow The Genius and its ilk.

It’s a reality show without the cameras — a 3-day, all-inclusive weekend retreat structured around a series of challenges and puzzles, in which personalities and dealmaking matter as much as playing games.

It’s truly a remarkable thing. I came in dead last in the competition, but I still had a great time participating.

The event is held annually in the Pacific Northwest (hence the name) and applications are now open to participate in the 2026 competition!

Learn more — and apply — at GeniusNW.com.

Comic Transcripts

#467; In which Melanie disappoints her Grandmother

— December 5th, 2008

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