Completion blues...
July 8, 2010 12:41 PM Subscribe
I just finished a big creative project...now what?
I just finished my first large scale creative project, which took up about 2 years of my time, working on a set schedule every weekday. I felt great for about all of a day, but now am kind of going crazy.
My brain feels as though I have just completed a marathon, and now all it wants to do is sit on the couch with a bag of potato chips and watch Roseanne re-runs on TV. This is not what I want. I want to stay sharp, by working on something regularly again. But...
...I seem to lack motivation to start the next thing, and am having trouble deciding what the next thing should even be. When I envisioned completing the big project, I thought I would just want to work on very small things for awhile, until I could formulate the idea for the next grand project...but the idea of doing something on a small scale seems linked to my current lack of motivation, somehow.
I still feel very much a rookie when it comes to the creative process and (obviously) managing my emotions around it. Do any artists, writers or other creative types have any tips on navigating through this? Should I just jump into the next big thing with reckless abandon? Should I force myself to complete small works until the next big idea presents itself? Is there something else I can do to get myself working again?
I just finished my first large scale creative project, which took up about 2 years of my time, working on a set schedule every weekday. I felt great for about all of a day, but now am kind of going crazy.
My brain feels as though I have just completed a marathon, and now all it wants to do is sit on the couch with a bag of potato chips and watch Roseanne re-runs on TV. This is not what I want. I want to stay sharp, by working on something regularly again. But...
...I seem to lack motivation to start the next thing, and am having trouble deciding what the next thing should even be. When I envisioned completing the big project, I thought I would just want to work on very small things for awhile, until I could formulate the idea for the next grand project...but the idea of doing something on a small scale seems linked to my current lack of motivation, somehow.
I still feel very much a rookie when it comes to the creative process and (obviously) managing my emotions around it. Do any artists, writers or other creative types have any tips on navigating through this? Should I just jump into the next big thing with reckless abandon? Should I force myself to complete small works until the next big idea presents itself? Is there something else I can do to get myself working again?
Best answer: Congratulations! You're in the gap. Ideas do present themselves--they're in the air. But you can't see them floating by if you don't give yourself some down time right now instead of jumping full bore into the next project.
Watch Roseanne and eat potato chips for a little bit of time. Catch up with parts of life you may have neglected--family, friends, pasttimes you love but didn't have time for. You didn't say what your project was, but keep a notepad/sketch pad with you all the time to catch the glimpses of your next project. Don't force anything yet. Find ruminative things to do--walking, hiking, biking, swimming on a daily basis that oxygenate your brain and body. Take a trip to give yourself a change of scene. Read the book Flow to find out about how others have experienced the creative process.
Let yourself slowly feel the red-balloon beautiful release of your project. Bask. Many people imagine that finishing a big creative project makes you want to jump in the air, after breaking out the champagne. I'm not sure that really happens to most creative people. Sometimes just finally having enough time to get your teeth cleaned feels like a huge luxury.
posted by Elsie at 12:57 PM on July 8, 2010 [2 favorites]
Watch Roseanne and eat potato chips for a little bit of time. Catch up with parts of life you may have neglected--family, friends, pasttimes you love but didn't have time for. You didn't say what your project was, but keep a notepad/sketch pad with you all the time to catch the glimpses of your next project. Don't force anything yet. Find ruminative things to do--walking, hiking, biking, swimming on a daily basis that oxygenate your brain and body. Take a trip to give yourself a change of scene. Read the book Flow to find out about how others have experienced the creative process.
Let yourself slowly feel the red-balloon beautiful release of your project. Bask. Many people imagine that finishing a big creative project makes you want to jump in the air, after breaking out the champagne. I'm not sure that really happens to most creative people. Sometimes just finally having enough time to get your teeth cleaned feels like a huge luxury.
posted by Elsie at 12:57 PM on July 8, 2010 [2 favorites]
I may be in the minority here, but don't feel there is a "process" that has to be worked through. There are no magic pills or magical ideas that will get you moving again. This is an age-old problem and hundreds, if not thousands, of books have been written on "How To Finally Write Your Novel" or "125 Ways To Fill-In-The-Blank." No matter how creatively it's said, it still all comes down to one thing: Just Write. Just Whatever. Just Do It. Small project, big project, doodling, just keep doing whatever it is you do. That's when the inspiration will hit you. No mystical time on the mountain top will inspire you like just doing. If you finish one project and feel unmotivated to start another, so what? Just do it anyway. You either will or you won't. One pays - the other doesn't.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 1:08 PM on July 8, 2010
posted by Gerard Sorme at 1:08 PM on July 8, 2010
What's "just finished" mean?
I'm a big fan of daily writing schedules to maintain productivity. But I'm also a big fan of rewarding yourself by taking a bit of a vacation--of a few weeks or even a month--after you finish something huge.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:24 PM on July 8, 2010
I'm a big fan of daily writing schedules to maintain productivity. But I'm also a big fan of rewarding yourself by taking a bit of a vacation--of a few weeks or even a month--after you finish something huge.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:24 PM on July 8, 2010
Best answer: Congrats! I finished a 100K writing project a week ago today which sounds similar to what you are describing. It's been tough especially because it's hot as hell here and I don't WANT to do anything and yet I really miss having the "get up and write" aspect that every day for the past several months [and the project-building for the past 18 months] has gotten me.
What I've done is started to get back my routines. Not just the get-up-brush-teeth stuff but the things that used to outline my day before they were sucked into this all-consuming thing. So eating lunch in town. Writing postcards to friends. Talking to people on the phone. Going to the movies. Updating my blog again. As I started doing smaller things, anything but the chips-Roseanne routine, larger ideas have come to me. And while, unlike you, I don't think I want to go back in to a huge project again, each small project you touch has the capacity to become a larger one. I feel like I'm in a woodshedding phase where I'm working on my chops, remembering what I like, and remembering what I'm about that is not THE PROJECT and that will help me formulate what the next thing will be.
The last time I was about to start a proejct, it was before this project. And I didn't at all see it coming. So I'm okay thinking that I may not see the next thing coming either. It's pretty rare that creative people only have one idea. Immerse yourself in the post-project you and see what comes along.
posted by jessamyn at 1:44 PM on July 8, 2010
What I've done is started to get back my routines. Not just the get-up-brush-teeth stuff but the things that used to outline my day before they were sucked into this all-consuming thing. So eating lunch in town. Writing postcards to friends. Talking to people on the phone. Going to the movies. Updating my blog again. As I started doing smaller things, anything but the chips-Roseanne routine, larger ideas have come to me. And while, unlike you, I don't think I want to go back in to a huge project again, each small project you touch has the capacity to become a larger one. I feel like I'm in a woodshedding phase where I'm working on my chops, remembering what I like, and remembering what I'm about that is not THE PROJECT and that will help me formulate what the next thing will be.
The last time I was about to start a proejct, it was before this project. And I didn't at all see it coming. So I'm okay thinking that I may not see the next thing coming either. It's pretty rare that creative people only have one idea. Immerse yourself in the post-project you and see what comes along.
posted by jessamyn at 1:44 PM on July 8, 2010
I think you'll get inspired to start working hard again once the next big idea kicks in and you're excited about it. Right now is probably more of a well-deserved rest time.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:31 PM on July 8, 2010
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:31 PM on July 8, 2010
Best answer: Yeah, keep ideas percolating but don't feel compelled to force something new until you're ready; that can be a recipe for burnout, which is rarely productive.
Instead, yes, potato chip, Roseanne, reconnect, and take care of yourself, your relationships, and your dreams. Short-terms plans and projects that can be completed in a day can be your friend.
And if you're worried about losing momentum and not starting something again, maybe put a date on the calendar [appropriate time period here] from now where you'll kickstart things if you haven't already.
But, in the meantime, enjoy. You pulled off a coup, and you pushed yourself for two years. Bask; you deserve a break.
posted by asuprenant at 9:25 PM on July 8, 2010
Instead, yes, potato chip, Roseanne, reconnect, and take care of yourself, your relationships, and your dreams. Short-terms plans and projects that can be completed in a day can be your friend.
And if you're worried about losing momentum and not starting something again, maybe put a date on the calendar [appropriate time period here] from now where you'll kickstart things if you haven't already.
But, in the meantime, enjoy. You pulled off a coup, and you pushed yourself for two years. Bask; you deserve a break.
posted by asuprenant at 9:25 PM on July 8, 2010
Best answer: You might enjoy reading Twyla Tharp's book The Creative Habit - lots of stuff in there about stages of the creative process, how she manages getting stuck, getting started, etc.
posted by crocomancer at 4:30 AM on July 9, 2010
posted by crocomancer at 4:30 AM on July 9, 2010
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The good news is that since you're right at the beginning, you're in the phase where you get to lounge around on cafe patios with a notepad and a pen jotting down ideas and sketching out broad strokes and still say you're working.
Enjoy it. In a week or a month it will be time to dive back in to the real hard work. And by then you'll be ready.
For me, small projects are something to do when blocked on the big ones. It would be a waste to work on small projects without a grand monstrosity on the go.
posted by 256 at 12:52 PM on July 8, 2010 [2 favorites]