Finish it already!
For a long time, I was held back by the belief that starting something is the bravest thing you can do. Following the spark of inspiration, jumping in with both feet, throwing caution to the wind: these things are difficult and do take courage.
And the truth is, I am good at starting things, I'm an idea person with a lot of energy. But the more I started things, the more I recklessly abandoned what was behind for a new and special idea, the more I realized that while it is hard to take a leap of faith and follow inspiration, for me the finishing of the thing is the hardest part of the process.
Whether it’s a presentation for work, a new album of original music, a painting, that new Etsy shop you’ve been secretly working on, or whatever else it may be, putting that finishing stamp on a work you’ve created has the ability to petrify you, freeze you, and possibly, cause you to walk away from a creation you’ve poured countless hours into and possibly a lot of dough.
I first ran into this when I made my solo EP, Goodbye Town, a few years ago. This was the first real thing I ever made for the public. It was intimate and hard, revealing and challenging.
When it came time to say, “it is finished,” I found myself struggling. The EP itself took way too long to make. And during that time, I convinced myself that the length and difficulty to arrange sessions, get people in, finalize mixes, that all of those things had to do with the natural challenge of the creative process. But the fact was, I was scared of saying that what I made was good and that, in this personal piece of art, my opinion counted the most. I struggled to see that ultimately when people engage with something you made, they are seeing a reflection of you and only you can say when that reflection is right.
So, I sat on the mixes of the songs way too long, nitpicking every little thing, listening thousands of times to each of the songs, and making mountains out of every musical mole-hill. And finally, I had to step back and say, “It’s done. It’s good. And it won’t ever be perfect, and that’s a good thing.” I booked my release show and shot the mixes over to the mastering engineer and released myself from the burden of perfection.
Once I did that, the new ideas flooded in and they all were existing in a slightly higher plane, a new level. I had defeated the Level 1 Boss of my own life's video game, and had moved to the next level, with bigger and more interesting puzzles and bosses to defeat.
And like all creative practice, finishing things is also a practice: a practice in self love and self trust. It's a practice in believing that your taste matters, and its ok for imperfection to co-exist with good taste.
Around the time I was making Goodbye Town, I read this piece by This American Life’s Ira Glass. He says:
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
Ultimately, what he’s saying is, make lots of content, finish the content, put out the content, even if its not as good as you know it can be. Be comfortable in the practice of putting out the work, knowing that it will pave the way for you to become better.
Since then, I’ve taken this to heart. When producing music, I’ve become a timeline watch-dog: we record on day A, we mix on day B, we review mixes on day C, we master on day D, we put out the music on day E. No dragging things out, no time to contemplate the worth or use of the art, just make it and put it out.
Ultimately, I hold myself to this standard:
Do good work and share it and let yourself be uncomfortable enough to grow.
I think one of the most stagnating things you can do to yourself as an artist or as a business owner or as an employee or in whatever your endeavors may be, is to linger on one piece of work for too long. Humans are creative beings, with new and fresh ideas. It's exciting, life-giving, and motivating to feel the dopamine rush of new ideas starting to form. But our fear, our self-doubt, our inability to give ourselves that stamp of approval, holds us back from finishing and then, ultimately we hold ourselves back from the freedom of starting the next new thing.
Do you have a book that you’ve half written, or are you sitting on recordings that are half done? Do you have that program at work you know will effect major change but you haven’t written the white paper yet? What about that electric guitar sitting in your closet with the youtube tutorials all linked in your browsers or that DSLR camera in your drawer that you've been meaning to use more regularly? The time is now, for you and me. It’s time for us to finish the things we set out to do, make something and share it, and then keeping making things and watching them get better and better.
If you’re making stuff that’s hard and scary, I would really love to hear about it. I’ve been so encouraged by all of you that have reached out to talk about your endeavors since I started this blog. Let’s keep it going! Let’s have coffee and chat. Mutual encouragement is the name of the game, y’all. I’m cheering for you!
XOXO,
Jen Deale
Boss Lady, Camp Crush // SBP Smoothies // Cooper & Bailey
PS - Last call for our big benefit show at Doug Fir coming up on Tuesday, Dec 19! Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/522469164752995/