I stopped reading as I knew I had missed yesterday, and I posted the blog on "Missing Days". I did it because I am a serial starter of projects and I want to be a finisher too. And in reading this article, I now understand why. I know this article does not contain The Truth. I know that I prescripted an actor to write this article and send it to me that would help me solve some brain puzzles and get me to keep moving in my writing game! It worked!
Here is the article with my notes in blue:
I know many writers with great projects that they start and get bored with - or run out of time to progress - and then a year or so later start another project where the same thing happens.
It's natural. You brain is a marvelous instrument, capable of limitless creativity, but just like a child, it gets bored with the same old thing and will want to move on. (I as God got bored with pefection and so I came to the holodeck to experience all these puzzles to solve).
That's why you have to work quickly - or push through the blocks - to get a project finished before you get bored of it.
Many writers assume that it's their perfectionism that makes them work on a project over and over, taking years to feel some sort of satisfaction over the finished product. But this is to misunderstand how the mind works.
Basically, every three to six months, your brain has changed physiology. So in effect you're a different person two to four times a year. Take too long over a project and you're merely handing it over to a newer you each time - and each time you'll review the ideas, or their execution, find them wanting, and most likely feel the need to start over again. (This is fascinating and answers so many questions).
This is why you must finish at least the first draft quickly. Get it all down before the excitement inevitably wears off. This is the real "secret" to success.
It doesn't matter whether a particular project is perfect or not. Finishing it is what counts. Only then can you know whether it works. Only then do you feel you are capable of other, larger and more complex commitments. (Having a direct experience of the Truth).
When I mentor writers, I like to make sure they're used to finishing small projects. Articles, short stories, even blogs. (The point where I stopped reading and finished my post for yesterday ;-)
It's not the work that's hard - it's the mentality that's wrong. The mindset wasn't pre-programmed for completion. (Now I know how to change the program....that was easy!)
I think this is the real problem with the 9 to 5 mentality. There's a very real sense that work is never really over - and that there's always going to be more time. (Haha, one good excuse I can use to not have an ordinary job)!And now I'm more inspired than ever to get a quick draft of my novel done. I want to keep pace with my characters who are "speaking" to me. If I wait too long to write their story, they too will have changed and will be on different adventures!
When you're an artist, especially a working artist, this paradigm no longer applies. (I'm finding lots of rules get rewritten now that I'm waking up - and in fact, there were never any set rules to life).
If you want to be a paid writer, you need to get used to finishing what you start. Good or bad - you'll never know unless you can hold it up and say: "It's done." (I got to have a direct experience of this when I finished my mini book by the day of submission)!
And don't forget to send your stuff out into the world. That's where it will really begin to take effect. Keep Writing! (I've been sending my blog posts out into the world everyday now for over 8 months. I have just under 3 months to complete my commitment. Doing this set the stage for my mini book and now my novel. I'm on the verge of a life long dream to make money doing what I LOVE)!
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