Anyone else love that time after you finish a project and get to do something new? Just finished the first draft of this novel and signed up for a short story class. I actually love the potential of the blank page.
I've always loved that feeling, not only in writing, but in anything creative I've ever done. I used to like it so much that it would become a problem. I would never finish my current project because I'd be so excited about starting a new one. I've gotten a lot better with it recently however
I luuuuuuuve starting a new story. There’s no restrictions. You can do anything. You don’t have to worry about contradicting yourself. I hate the middle. You’ve already made most of the major decisions, and now you have to figure out how this shit is going to come together into an interesting story. But... I love the end. By the end, you know the characters intimately, and everything is easy again. You get the payoff of all your hard work.
That's funny. I worked with this girl who ran marathons back in the day. She said, "I love getting ready to run, and I love how I feel when I'm done, I just hate most of the doing."
I think this is part of the attraction of improv for me, and for some of my peers who do flash fiction or beat poetry. Something new every ten minutes, and when it's over it's over, no lingering. And microblogging. I've found that generates some excitement if I limit the posts to <5,000 words, because then i'm on to a new topic every week.
For me, I like the doing too. Writing's the fun part. What I don't like is the selling of the completed work. Hustlehustlehustle. Pleasekillmenow. I just sat through a lecture hosted by a publicist about how to brand myself to improve sales. She emphasized that anything I say can affect sales, so watch my mouth at all times when in public. Yeah, that's the opposite of fun. So, I desperately need those jolts of hopeful potential when starting a fresh project.
