#FemaleFilmmakerFriday – Starting vs Going

I’ve been thinking about what is harder for me — getting started or being able to keep going. I think it’s the latter, but with caveats.

I always take forever to start a new project. It’s so daunting to stare at a blank page. There are too many different ways I can plan or prepare or write, too many voices on Twitter suggesting this way! or that way! or here’s how to outline! and 99% of it is useless to me, even if those methods are great for those writers. But it all adds up to the noise that I have to block out in order to actually start.

planning is fun! nope.

Starting a budget is also daunting, if only because it’s absolutely terrifying to see all those little numbers add up into a positively enormous number. And then worry about where on earth you could ever find that much.

Once a specific project is launched, the “keep going” is not a problem. I have a pretty dogged “get on this train or I’m running you over” approach to that part of the work, so when we’re talking about individual projects… that’s golden. That answer is simple: starting is harder. Finishing, no problem. I never start something & leave it unfinished.

However.

If we’re talking much bigger picture, being able to keep going is really, really hard. It takes a long toll on you: to be at something for this many years and worry that you aren’t doing enough, aren’t making enough, aren’t BEING enough, for five, ten, fifteen… years is … it’s a lot. So in that sense, continuing in the face of feeling absolutely stuck, like I’m spinning my wheels, is my most Herculean task. By far.

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