There's a problem Creatives run into frequently (and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in this boat) -- how do you decide what project to work on? Most of us have oodles of ideas -- not just one or two, but dozens. How do you pick which project you devote your time to?
What tends to happen is this: we start one project, work on it for a little bit, then set it aside when a newer, shinier idea comes along. Then we start on that project, work on it for a little bit, and the process repeats.
I'm no exception to this rule. Right now I'm actively working on a piece for handbell choir, a set of pieces for a smaller handbell ensemble, a handbell solo, and a piano piece. None of this even touches on the myriad other ideas I have for music I'd like to write.
And don't even get me started on writing fiction ... too many ideas there to even contemplate.
Yet, I feel I'm one of the lucky ones. I've actually finished pieces (quite a few of them) and have been rather successful at doing so. I've managed to overcome the indecision and actually get something done. How exactly does one do something like that?
Stop judging your ideas on their merit -- Many of us spend quite a lot of time debating (either in our heads or out loud or in our journals) the merits of our ideas. Is this idea good enough? Has it been done already? Is it worthy? To finish work, you need to stop judging. The quality of a work, the merit of a work, comes not from the initial idea itself, but rather from it execution, from the effort and skill the artist puts into it.
Stop thinking that "New is Always Better" -- Barney Stinson on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother says that he has only one rule: new is always better. He then goes on to say that this is his oldest rule, which is what makes it the best. That new idea that comes to you while you're working isn't a better idea than your current one, it's just newer. Jot down a couple of thoughts about the idea, then shelve it away to work on at a later date.
Which idea calls to you? -- Take ten ideas, jot them down on index cards, and spread them out on the table in front of you. Then look them over, letting your mind roam where it will as you take them in. I'd bet good money that one of them appeals to you just a bit more than the others. It seems easier to accomplish, or it seems like more fun, or it seems like an exciting challenge. Whatever the reason, if an idea is calling to you, regardless of how "good" you think the idea is (see the first point above), run with it -- odds are that excitement you feel at getting started on it will help carry you far enough that you'll be able to take it all the way to completion.
Which idea has the greatest need? -- There are ideas that are needed -- either the world needs them brought to completion, or a person/group/ensemble needs them brought to completion. Whatever the need, let that sense of necessity help you choose which idea to work on.
In the long run, it doesn't matter what you choose to work on. The world will only ever see your finished products, not your list of ideas. Posterity will not look back at what you've accomplished and say, "You know, what he did was good, but he could have done better if he'd chosen this idea." We see Beethoven's magnificent symphonies and call him a genius, yet we never got to see all the wonderful ideas he dreamed up and never got around to completing. However, I guarantee you no one would be saying anything about Beethoven had he not selected some idea and brought it through to completion, and then repeated the process.
If you're hemming and hawing over what project to work on, I challenge you today to simply pick one and get started. Stay with it until it's finished, and then repeat the process. That is the way to truly create something worth talking about.
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