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Finish the Work: An Excerpt from The Artist's Suitcase · The Daily Writer

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Writer.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Each weekday, we bring you a short lesson that helps you live out the four practices of a great writer: creativity, consistency, courage, and connection.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Here on the weekend edition, we take a deeper dive into those topics through conversations with writers, as well as teaching that helps us apply what we're learning.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the other day I was thinking about what to share on today's episode, and I write so much content for books, for this podcast, for my college courses, for giving talks at different places sometimes, and other stuff that I'm probably not even thinking about.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: I write so much stuff that sometimes I just forget what's there.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you ever have that problem or not.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: So as I was thinking about what to share on this episode, instead of coming up with you know something new, I thought, man, I've written just so much stuff over the years.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't I just go back and see what I have written and I haven't shared in a while that would be fun and relevant for this podcast?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to confess to you, something kind of funny happened in that moment, which was I suddenly realized, oh yeah, I wrote a book a few years ago that I haven't talked about or even mentioned on this podcast in I think quite a long time.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: It may even come as a surprise to some of you listening that, oh, Kent wrote a book.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: If he did, why doesn't he ever talk about it?
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a good question.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, what I want to do in this episode is I want to share an excerpt from uh from my book called The Artist Suitcase 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I want to share one of my favorite chapters from that book.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I'll talk more about the book in just a little bit, but the book is is uh 26 little short chapters, so this is not going to be a super long episode.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'll get to that in just a minute, but before I do that, I want to take a few minutes to celebrate some wins from the amazing members of our daily writer community.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And what I want to do is I share these wins is I want to see if you can guess the theme of these wins that I share.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's how this works uh in our daily writer communities.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Every Friday, this is in our Facebook group, our private Facebook group for the people in this community.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Every Friday, I put a post up that says, Hey everybody, share your your biggest writing wins from this past week.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about some challenges you're facing right now, and talk about your major writing-related goal for the coming week.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I do that every single Friday, and it's so much fun seeing the responses that people in the group post.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to take four wins from this past Friday, so two days ago.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: I want to take four wins, and there's a theme that's running through these, and I'll share what that theme is in just a second.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: But let's see if you can guess what the theme is as I share these.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so here's win number one.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is from Jared in the group.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Jared said that he completed a rough draft of an ebook and an email course.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that was really, really cool.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Congrats, Jared.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's an awesome step.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Phyllis in the group said she has a ton of material prepared for the rebuild of her website.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that is an awesome goal as well.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Creating a website or updating a website can oftentimes be kind of an intimidating proposition for writers.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I confess to you that working on websites is not one of my favorite things to do.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, there's a lot of other things I would rather do than mess with websites sometimes, but they're they're pretty important.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so, Phyllis, congrats for doing that.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome job.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Ashley said her win for this past week was she made it through developmental edits of Act Two of the novel that she's working on.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that is an amazing win from this past week.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: So congrats, Ashley.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, Ken said his biggest win from this past week was completing the ninth chapter of his first draft and beginning his tenth chapter of the book that he's working on.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: So awesome job, Ken.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Way to go.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's a fantastic win.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what did you think the theme of those wins was?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you guessed that the theme was doing hard things, then you're correct.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to notice that these wins are either tasks that are usually not that fun, or they're parts of a project toward the middle when a lighter writer's lose heart and give up.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, for example, the win that Ken mentioned was completing the ninth chapter of his first draft and starting his tenth chapter.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's toward around the middle section of his book, I believe.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And what oftentimes happens whenever writers get into the middle of a project is you get tired, you've kind of lost the enthusiasm that you had at the beginning of the project.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of writers give up toward that, that middle 50% of the book.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the first 25% of a of a book or of a big project, you're really excited.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, oh yeah, this is so much, this is so much fun, it's so awesome, and you got all this adrenaline going on.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: But then you get towards the that middle 50% from like the 25 to the 75% mark.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that kind of feels like a slog because you because you're not even halfway there yet, up until you get to the 50% point.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then once you do that, it still feels like kind of a slog until you get to about that 75% point in a big book or or in a in any kind of a big project.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it's hard to get into the middle of the section and maintain your momentum and enthusiasm.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing with Ashley.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: She said she made it through developmental edits of act two.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: And developmental edits are hard.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're kind of a ways away from the beginning of the project and you're still a ways away from finishing it.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And she is in act two of the book, which means she's in the middle section, you know, of a three-act structure.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: So great job making it through those.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, um, again, going back to these wins, Phyllis mentioned that she was working on her website and she got some things done for that.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: And Jared mentioned he got a rough draft of an ebook finished and an email course template.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: So those are projects that aren't necessarily maybe the most fun.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: They would probably rather be writing stories or doing creative writing or working on a book project.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: But both Jared and Phyllis completed some things that were necessary and very important, and they just stuck with their guns and they got them done.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: So the theme of this week is doing hard things, just sticking with the work and being persistent.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: So when it comes to what you're working on, keep pressing on and doing the daily work.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's why we call this the daily writer, because it's all about doing that consistent work that's going to give you success.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, back to the artist suitcase book that I mentioned a minute ago.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: In this book, I talk about a topic related to creativity in each of these 26 chapters, and I use the alphabet as a guide.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So the subtitle of the book is 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously, there's 26 chapters, one corresponding to each letter.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: So A is for attitude, B is for a blank page, C is for critics, and so on and so forth.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: And today I want to share a chapter titled You Is For Unfinished.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: All around the world, in homes, offices, and studios, there are unfinished works of art that will never see the light of day.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Does one of them belong to you?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: When I'm sitting in my college office, I see lots of great art.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: On the wall to my right are movie posters for two of my favorite films, Citizen Kane and The Searchers.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: On the wall to the left, there is a print of Rembrandt's masterpiece, The Return of the Prodigal Sun.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: On the bookshelf beside me are models for some of my favorite vehicles, including the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, the time traveling DeLorean from Back to the Future, and the Mach 5 from Speed Racer.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: The bookshelves behind me hold hundreds of books and DVDs.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: The iPhone on my desk contains hundreds of songs, dozens of podcast episodes, and a few dozen apps.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And the MacBook Pro I'm using to write this book is also a work of art.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: All these items were created by people who finished their work.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: These products and works of art began as ideas in someone's mind, but they didn't stay that way.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Their creators worked on the concepts, usually collaborating with others, and the ideas began to take shape.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: But most important, they finished their work.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is where it's easy to get sidetracked.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: You have a great idea, you start to work on it, and you build momentum.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: You might even share it with a few people.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: But then as you work on it, you start to lose steam.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Life gets busy, you lose focus, and you don't finish your work.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes our work ends up like the movie Superman Lives.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: You say you've never heard of this movie?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's because it was never finished.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: In the 1990s, the Warner Brothers studio decided to resurrect the Superman franchise.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: They cycled through a few directors before landing on Tim Burton, who had given the studio great success, particularly with 1989's Batman and its sequel, Batman Returns.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Screenwriters worked on several drafts of a script.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Production staff worked on sets and special effects.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Nicholas Cage was cast as Superman and filmed screen test with the redesigned costume.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: But after years of development and endless problems, the studio shut down production.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: A great deal of time and energy, not to mention millions of dollars, went down the drain, and Superman Lives was never finished.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: What could have been one of the most interesting movies from the 1990s ended up as just another might have been.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone has a might have been story.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: It may not be a big Hollywood movie, but I'll bet you've started something you'd love to finish.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: It might be a book, a piece of music, a painting, or something you're building or making with your hands.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: You want to finish it, but you just can't seem to find the time.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: In the bottom of someone's desk drawer, there is an Oscar winning screenplay.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: It just needs to be finished.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: On someone's hard drive, there is a New York Times best selling novel.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: It just needs to be finished.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: In someone's closet, there is a painting worthy of display in a gallery.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: It just needs to be finished.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: On someone's college transcript, there is a degree listed with most of the required classes already taken.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: The degree could open doors and unlock someone's potential that just needs to be finished.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: In someone's journal, tucked away on a bookshelf, are sketches that could be the basis for a comic strip or an animated movie.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: They just need to be finished.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: On someone's sketchpad are drawings for a remodeled kitchen, basement, or treehouse.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: They just need to be finished.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: On someone's CDs or hard drive are rough demos of Grammy Award-winning songs.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: They just need to be finished.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is that someone you?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: If so, what can you do to turn your might have bins into reality?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: What creative art do you still have unfinished?
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Questions for reflection.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, why is it so easy to start creative projects but so hard to finish them?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, have you worked on something like a book, a painting, a poem, a blog, or a song that you haven't yet finished?
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: What's keeping you from finishing it?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, think of your life six months from now.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: What would it feel like to have that project finished?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: What can it do for your business and self-confidence?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Number four, what are some of the hurdles you face in finishing your projects, and how can you take action in spite of them?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I hope you enjoyed that short excerpt from the artist suitcase.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't read the book, I think you'll really, really enjoy it.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: The chapters are super short, and you can read each one in just a few minutes.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And each one of those chapters will give you an awesome little creative spark.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, a few minutes ago, I mentioned our daily writer community, and I shared some wins from the people in that group.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to invite you to apply for this community as well.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think one of the very best ways to live at your full creative potential is to spend time around other successful writers.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're tired of feeling isolated and chasing success on your own, I think you're really going to love the Daily Writer community.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: For years, I searched for the kind of community that I would want to join for writers, and I created one because I could never find what I wanted.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: So if this sounds interesting to you and you would like to make faster progress and uh more excellent progress with your writing work, then I think you'll really enjoy this.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: For more info, you can visit dailywriterlife.com slash community.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much, and I'll see you tomorrow.