What’s that one piece of art you tried making but couldn’t find a reason to finish?
Or the game you started playing, but couldn’t seem to pick back up? Or maybe it was a tool or piece of software that you know could’ve made you just a little bit better. You just couldn’t get past that first tutorial.
Everyone’s been there, don’t worry. You aren’t alone.
In fact, I think I’m probably one of the worst for habits like these.
A year and a half ago I sat down and blocked out the outline of a story. I was going to write a novel. Planning the thing was nothing; the outline for a three act story was done within a week, and I eventually found myself hammering out two thousand words a day.
Cut to me a month later, and I never made it past chapter fourteen.
Part of it was the fact that I simply burned out. The novel was supposed to be my grand entry into NaNoWriMo, a writing event where authors are challenged to write fifty thousand words throughout the month of November. Going from zero to fifty thousand was always a guarenteed case of burnout.
The other part was the fact I was overloaded; both creatively and administratively.
At the time I was still a hopeful 3D artist looking to break his way into the industry (in a similar fashion as I’d hoped NaNoWriMo would go). I was working on a 3D project that was steadily escaping my abilities the further I progressed into it. My expectations for it matched the rate I was losing control of both my novel and my 3D art.
To make a short story shorter, neither the novel nor the art piece ever got finished. I still tell myself I’m going to finish the story, although I don’t know whether it’ll be a novel or not.
I ended up going through a process I’d later discover is a normal process; in fact, I’d say it’s a process that most creatives should learn to manage or else they’ll find themselves riddled with anxiety and guilt over the projects they think they should’ve completed.
Even if you aren’t the creative type, abandoning an endeavour or a task you thought was going to be easy/joyful/satisfying will always leave you with an unsettling feeling.
The process is simple though.
All you have to do is move on.
Let’s Establish a Quick Frame of Reference
For those familiar with the “Cult of Done Manifesto,” you’ll enjoy this section.
The rest of you should prepare to scratch your head before you encounter a minor epiphany.
The Cult of Done Manifesto are thirteen principles to ensure that you finish your work. They range from solid principles to live an entire life by, such as “Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done,” all the way to the more interesting tenets, like “Destruction is a variant of done.”
Now, I’m not telling you to sear those thirteen principles into every action you take. On a good day, I’ll be able to actively recall two or three of them (don’t ask about the bad days though).
There’s just one issue though.
The entire purpose of the Cult of Done Manifesto is to finish things. That’s it.
Given that we all contain at least a tincy-wincy amount of perfectionism within us, I’m going to wager that simply being “done” isn’t enough for you. Details need to be paid attention to, corners need to be rounded, and emotions need to be evoked.
Instead, like any good creative, we’re going to take a healthy dose of inspiration from the Cult of Done Manifesto and then adapt them to our liking. Of course, if you like the thirteen principles better than the simplified method I’m going to explain, by all means utilize it to it’s fullest.
The first principle for the twisting is:
“There are three states of being. Not knowing, action, and completion.”
(Keep in mind that this process is for dealing with a backlog of projects or anxiety with unfinished/unattempted tasks.)
We’re going to keep the three states of being, although I’ll refer to them as the three states of a project/task.
The first is (not knowing) not starting. This is when the project idea is so grand that you’re too overwhelmed to even know where to start. Reasoning would state that if we stay here for too long we should simply move on. Reality shows us that we always linger way too long.
The second state is (action) action. No need to change the term, as it suits our purposes clearly. Action is action; the straightforward act of engaging in whatever project/task you’ve gotten yourself into. The issues arise when you, once again, linger way too long in this stage. However, unlike not starting, there’s an endless amount of reasons you could string yourself along in this phase of the project.
The third state is (completion) acceptance. Note the difference in context. Let’s face it, can you ever really be done with a piece of art? Instead there’s a point where you either get sick of working on the piece, or tick all of the check boxes you laid out for yourself. But if you’ve made it here before, you know how relieving and rewarding this is. The burden is lifted, and you’re able to move on to the next task.
The cycle continues.
Abandoning Your Endeavour, In a Good Way
The second principle to twist is:
“Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.”
Easier said than done. And also a little wasteful when we’re thinking creatively.
I don’t think I’ve ever worked on a project where I haven’t been able to use one item or texture or concept that I’ve previously used.
Some of them are a bit more obvious and intuitive, but the number of uses I’ve gotten out of some of my models is a little criminal. Don’t get me started on my massive collection of reference images either.
How are we going to twist this principle though?
We’re not. We’re just going to expand the scope a little bit.
Take the project you’ve stalled out on. Ask yourself,
“What’s the bare minimum I could do to feel satisfied with this project?”
Be honest, as now you’re going to estimate the amount of time that that satisfaction is going to take to achieve.
Under a week? Just go work on it. If it’s over a week, are you going to actually work on it? If not, then scrap it.
But if you reallllllllly liked the project (or never got past the “not starting” stage), then take a picture or a quick render for a keepsake (or a lingering challenge that will haunt you in the background).
Then scrap it. No ifs, ands, or buts.
You don’t want to end up with either a physical or digital pile of half-baked abandoned projects. That’s when the guilt and anxiety start to build up.
Lighten Your Creative Load
Projects and tasks represent a growth process. You should want to grow in your abilities and talents.
You can’t do that when you’re stuck on the same project.
Make sure that you’re able to reflect on what you’ve just done. Not in a “pat-yourself-on-the-back” way, it’s more of a “what-do-I-need-to-change?” attitude.
Being able to identify what variables need tweeking, what skills need to be learned, and what challenges still need to be overcome are true signs of a person capable of growth.
If you’re feeling slightly dejected after abandoning some of your beloved projects, look to these last key principles:
“People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.”
“Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.”
When dealing with art, “failure” is entirely subjective.
Always has, always will be.
You haven’t “failed” because you aren’t getting an industry job. You aren’t a “failure” because you can’t recreate the vision you had in your head.
All any of that means is that you just aren’t flipping the right levers within the creative process to align the project with yourself or others. And if you keep trying to force those levers through a project you can’t progress on?
You’ll be stuck for a while.
Recap
Let’s comb back over the process I outlined.
Identify where you are in the project. Have you started? What needs to be accomplished? Can you actually finish it?
Decide what you’ll do with the project. Can it be finished in under a (relatively) short period of time? If not, is it worth trying to finish? Are there aspects you want to save for future work? (Don’t linger here too long, it defeats the purpose of the process)
Relieve yourself of the stress. Reflect on what issues you encountered. Plan for what you need to change.
Repeat the process for as many projects as you’ve accumulated. Don’t make this a habit though, remember you’re trying to avoid abandoning projects altogether.
I’d also recommend to go back over the Cult of Done Manifesto in it’s entirety. I may not have done the whole thing justice, but we only needed a handful of it’s content to develop this process.
Hopefully you’re able to use this to dig yourself out from under the creative burdens you place on yourself. Accepting that failed projects are innevitable, and that they in no way reflect on your abilities is probably the single most vital piece of knowledge I could have used over the years.
Keep on creating,
Adam