Finishing your book, painting, or whatever is better than not finishing – but you won’t always finish.
Photo by Eden Constantino on Unsplash
This weekend, before going out of town, I took a moment to back up current active files to my flash drive.
Specifically, my writing. The books I have underway and the ones I’m currently plotting. I also grabbed the last several blogs I hadn’t previously saved to my thumb drive, too.
Yes, yes, I should probably actively back things up to the cloud. I’m forced to admit I have a tough time with cloud backups because I’m a bit paranoid about their security. Insert jokes about the old man shouting at the cloud here.
Anyhow – as I was backing things up to my flash drive, I realized numerous files across my documents are half-started stories. A few paragraphs here, an outline there, several pages, or a random idea ranging over multiple years and genres.
It occurred to me that it would be a good idea to create a new folder and move them into it. As I went through the files, before long I was looking at about 30 incomplete works.
Granted, there are duplicates. On at least 2 occasions, it’s glossaries of characters and stuff related to the incomplete work.
How is this different from my regular assertion to other writers that done is better than perfect – ergo, finishing is better than not?
Not every idea is fully formed
Let’s start with the obvious. Some ideas never get more than a sentence, a paragraph, some outlining, and so on.
For every story I’ve written, there are many more that I started – but dropped. Or only had a half-formed or half-baked idea, but not more than that.
Some of these ideas I clearly lost track of. In many instances – given most were started when I wrote almost exclusively as a pantser – I lost track of what I had intended.
A few go back as far as 2004. Do you remember what you were thinking 20 years ago? (Does it cause you a sense of pain to realize 2004 was almost 20 years ago)?
As a writer, ideas pop into my head frequently. Some have gotten traction and evolved from idea to story. From there, some became books and series.
My point here is that it’s okay to not finish all those half-considered ideas. That’s not the same as finishing a work that you’ve put your heart and soul into.
How does this differ?
Finishing versus not finishing versus barely starting
Mere ideas, barely pursued, are barely started. Sometimes the writing was just an exercise, or these works were tilled in soil where they would not take root.
For example, in the mid-2000s, while bored at my job, I started a different type of sci-fi. I wrote in a style I normally don’t write in. I got 29 pages written. But I left that job – and the story I was writing during my downtime was never picked up again.
Relatively speaking – it didn’t get that deep into that story. It, and others like it, are categorized by me as barely started.
When you are head-down, working diligently over a lengthy time, the question of not finishing versus finishing comes into play.
Some people go back and edit. A lot. You rework, redo, and rewrite large swaths of your story. Some people just can’t believe they will reach the end – so they don’t.
Getting to the end for some people is utterly terrifying. Or they’re so focused on perfecting what they have before they finish – they don’t finish. Hence, done is better than perfect – and finishing is better than not.
Overcoming the fear – whatever it might be – and finishing when you’ve put in the work to create is important. It doesn’t matter if you ever publish your work. Just finishing is super empowering.
It’s all too easy in this life to not finish things.
The world is in many ways unnecessarily complicated. What’s more, creative arts are often disregarded, shunned, and not taken seriously.
Many people consider artists – whatever art you do – to be these aloof, unusual, strange magical creatures. Like faeries and other mythical beasts.
But we’re not – for the most part. Artists are merely creators who have a drive, talent, and skill they are compelled to do.
Shared or not – the creation of art and the empowerment that comes from its making drives artists.
Everyone is a creator. But not everyone is an artist. Artists, however, are held to an odd and unusual standard. So unusual, in fact – I can’t tell you what it is. It’s intangible. But I’ve never met another artist who hasn’t contended with it.
Often, you get little to no encouragement to finish your art projects. Unless you’re a known quantity, and there’s an expectation on you to produce finished work (i.e., George RR Martin and the Song of Ice and Fire series) – chances are, whether you finish or not matters to nobody but you.
However, finishing is better because it empowers you. You gain satisfaction at the finish of your work. And unlike so many others who never finish a book, painting, song, sketch, or what-have-you – there’s a finished piece of art you created and can point to.
Artists empower others. But you start by empowering yourself.
You alone know if finishing matters
Finishing is good for your mental health. Because it tells you that you are capable of completing challenging, creative work.
Yet you, and you alone, can determine where the line between finished work, unfinished work, and barely-started work each exists.
When you look inside your head, heart, and soul, you’re likely to see why and how finishing your creative artwork matters. The empowerment that comes of it is a heady brew, and equally intoxicating to your soul.
And when you finish work, you can be satisfied that you are worthy and deserving of the achievement.
It doesn’t matter if nobody else knows. Since you’re the only one in your head, heart, and soul, you alone know why and how finishing matters.
And you are worthy of the sense of achievement and satisfaction completion of your works of art – whatever form they take – brings.
How are you inspired to be your own creator – whatever form that takes?
Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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