I’ve been working with creative and performing artists as, first, a therapist, and then for the last thirty-five years as a creativity coach. I’ve learned from my clients just how hard they find completing their creative work. Many creatives have trouble getting started; many have trouble working regularly; but almost all have special problems near the end, when the finish line is in sight. In this series, I want to spell out twelve reasons why completing creative work is so darn hard.
I’m framing this series from the point of view of a painter’s challenges, but the points apply to someone working in any creative field, from writing novels to game designing, from filmmaking to app development. I’m sure you’ll be able to easily translate the points I’m making to the medium in which you work. If you’d like additional resources, let me recommend three of my recent books: Redesign Your Mind, The Power of Daily Practice, and The Great Book of Journaling. Together they can provide you with a clear picture of how to get your creative work done through right thinking, good daily habits, and the self-awareness that journaling provides.
Here is challenge number 1.
The painting-in-progress doesn’t match your original vision for the piece.
Very often an artist “sees” her painting before it is painted—sees it in all its beauty, grandeur, and excellence—and then, as she paints, the “real” painting in front of her doesn’t match the brilliance and perfection of her original vision. Disappointed, she loses motivation to complete her creative project and either white-knuckles her way to the end or in fact doesn’t complete it.
One solution? Understand that your real paintings will be different from your imagined paintings. Maybe every so often they will be identical—but most of the time they won’t. The reality of process pretty much guarantees that the work you are doing will “go its own way” and will become the thing it will become, not some remembered or idealized version of itself. Maturely accept that any feelings you may harbor for the idealized or remembered version of your piece should not prevent you from accepting—and appreciating—the real version in front of you.
More to come!
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