Why is it so difficult for us to stop when we've started a project that's not working?
I thought about this this morning as I got up to brush my teeth. That face looking back at me from my medicine cabinet mirror was different than the one I'd imagined I might see when at the start of my soshedist project (soshedist = social distancing) I had decided to "grow a beard" for the second time in my life. The last time I stopped shaving I was teaching for 6 weeks at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. I have pictures of myself during that time. Here's one:
And yet, whenever I decide to "grow a beard" it's not this that I see in my mind's eye.
Nope. It's more like this:
You see the problem?
My beard doesn't grow in that way. My hair follicles don't cover the real estate in the same dense pattern as on Guy Ritchie's face and the hair that grows in on mine is also not the same thickness or straightness.
Continuing to "grow a beard" on a face that really isn't meant for that sort of thing will only result in more disappointing mornings when I reach for the toothbrush and cringe at the face looking back at me.
What, you may be asking, has any of this to do with making films or writing books or plays?
Everything.
Most of the writers I work with are talented. They are able craftspeople, quite capable of churning out pages of compelling material or clever lyrics or hummable tunes. And of those creatives with talent, a smaller portion are actually able to make compelling and coherent pieces which offer a satisfying audience experience in the broadest sense, meaning they can tell a story that holds together relatively well and it makes sense.
But part of every artist's process includes missteps, accidents, miscalculations, all of which require the artist to be able to see the difference between what she originally set out to make and what she seems to have made thus far. Assessing that difference is key to finding your way toward completed works of art that both reflect your vision and support your unique gifts as a creator.
Usually, there are changes we can make that will bring our vision and our product closer to each other. Generally speaking this involves a bit of working from both ends. We tinker with the construction of what we're making. But we also evaluate our original idea and modify it as needed to line up more perfectly with those unique strengths we bring to work. Our talents. Until we're willing and able to do this uncomfortable work we'll be out in the streets selling a patchwork of barely discernible hairs on a face as an actual beard.
And who's going to want to buy that?
