How to Finish Your Storytelling Project
If you’re like me, you have a bad habit.
You get pumped about new projects only to see the excitement fade once you’re buried in the requirements. We’re creative storytellers. Sometimes the fuel just runs low…
You see, I’m a journalist by trade, and having worked at a small, community newspaper, I thrive on more of the quick hit kind of projects. I’m also a distance runner, so I equate this to going out too fast in a race with not enough kick for the big sprint at the end.
I’ve taken on a number of long-term, large projects recently, so I’m learning how to better sustain my creativity over time.
Here are a few tips to keep your creativity running strong:
- Plan. The more we plan, the better. Yes, you can over-plan, but I like the old Boy Scout motto: be prepared. Planning can help you spread out your project and attack it one creative spark at a time.
- Feedback, anyone? We all need some second opinions. What you think works may not even come close. Find out, and hey, maybe that feedback will spur a new idea.
- Take a walk. Famed creative soul Julia Cameron recommends this in her book, Letters to a Young Artist. I do it sometimes. It works for me by taking my mind off what I have to do and centering it on what I want to do. Try it.
- Find a Believer. Everyone has that one person in their life that they trust. Lean on them when you have to. When you think all has gone dark, it most likely hasn’t. And they’ll tell you so.
- Turn on Some Inspiration. Figure out what inspires you at a moment’s notice. Use it. Always. My go to tends to be music by Seven Mary Three. Yours can be music, art, people, theater, cartoons – whatever works.
Image by Kolleen Gladden.