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The creative process can be a rollercoaster of ups and downs. How do we keep the momentum to see a project through to completion?
I know for me, my biggest problem is focus. Once I get going and into a state of “flow” (see my blog post on this here) then all is well – until I’m interrupted.
And it’s not just interruptions from other people – once I get immersed in the creative process, ideas start popping into my head for further avenues of enquiry! Creativity breeds creativity – just like dry spells create an inertia, making it very hard to start.
Another frustration – if I don’t record those flashes of inspiration, or act on them in some way fairly quickly, they can disappear like the morning mist. It would be wonderful if creativity was a constant flow, running smoothly throughout life – but personally, I find it more a flood/drought situation.
And the silliest thing of all – just when I’m in touching distance of the end of a project, my brain thinks “OK, we’re done here” and moves on to the next thing. It can be excruciatingly hard to finish, even if all I need to do is stitch on one small bead.
My top tips
- How do you know when it’s finished? When it stops speaking to you.
- Still not sure? Leave it for a bit, and come back to it. It’ll then be finished, or you’ll know what to do.
- Don’t overwork it. A painting is finished just before that last brushstroke. Textiles are slightly easier to rescue if you’ve gone too far, by unpicking – but this isn’t always possible.
- When you think you’re reaching the end, slow down to watch out for that “finished” moment and avoid overworking.
- Don’t slow down so much you stop – we all know how hard it is to find motivation to finish projects! How many UFOs do you have?
NB I freely admit I am not an expert on finishing!
Mentioned in this episode:
Everything everywhere all at once
You can find Gina here
The music is Dear Autumn by Ikson and you can find it at https://soundcloud.com/ikson.
