Get Out of the Details and Check on your Goal
It feels good to get down into the details of a creative project. At least it does if you feel like you’re making progress or discoveries or just having fun playing in the thing you love to do. Make your way into the woods and play away. It can be both reason and reward for doing your kind of creative work.
Don’t forget to pull up from time to time, out of the woods, looking at the big picture, noticing how things are going in the project from the view out here. This is a big reason for purposefully steering any creative project that’s a little too much for your inner navigator.
Heads Up
The Weekly Navigator can be a good way to lift your head from the detail of daily creative work and stay connected to the goal and the path right in front of you. Its chief benefit is finding out every week, or however often you want to take 10 minutes to use the navigator, specifically how you could work smarter for where you are now and where you want to be in the next few days.
But the Weekly Navigator doesn’t lift us all the way up out of the woods to see where we are in the creative cycle of this project.
Out of the Woods
It’s time to get out of the woods and navigate creative work at the project level.
Don’t lose sight of the whole map, where you’ve come from and where you’re going, and how far along you are.
Don’t risk getting stuck in one stage or landing in a new one surprised by what it will ask of you.
Experiment with the Project Map Navigator and discover your You Are Here spot. Every time we use this navigator, we see ways to adjust and take action to help it all come together, daily and weekly, to meet the needs of the stage we’re in.
Can’t Stay Here Forever
Let’s check in with Rick, who has transitioned from the Solve stage to the Share stage while writing his second novel.
Rick, who edits as he writes, was bringing his book writing to a close and seeking more feedback before sending it to his publisher—moving from inventing a book to getting ready to let it go.
As with his earlier novel, Rick found it disorienting to go from the familiar rhythm of writing the book—his constant companion—to starting to release it from his control to the publisher’s. He found no more story to invent or big solutions to discover for plot and character. Now it was down to what he called editorial decisions—creative in their own right, but without the exploratory thrill that he loved in the Solve stage.
Rick’s not afraid to admit that Share is also Slog for him, as it is for most people doing creative work. He loves the inventive work of Solve but can’t wait to be finished. At the same time, he doesn’t want to give up the thrills of Solve kinds of work.
Do you see how he could get stuck for a while in this transition? Maybe you’ve been stuck like that yourself.
Since Rick does want the story to live out in the world and not just in the minds of the few who read his drafts, it’s time to be in Share. Also, his small advance is spent. He needs this book to go to work for him, do well, and earn him more access to publishing contracts for new books. See? His project vision is shifting from making-something-from-nothing (Solve) to putting-a-bow-on-it (Share).
Could the Project Map Navigator help Rick be happier and more confident working in the Share stage?
Ah-ha
Rick tried it, and found an unexpected insight:
I don’t want to do this stage on adrenaline and caffeine, the way I did the last stage. Now I want a good rhythm without a lot of strain. I need to be in a better place for starting a new project.
Then he found three changes he wanted to make (from the Project Map session):
Working with relaxed energy would look like not working so late at night and having some nights off. This can work by doing more on more on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights, and less during the rest of the week until the final edits with the publisher are done.
When the final feedback comments come back, I’ll take part of the week off work to get all the revisions done.
I’m taking the pressure off about the next novel. I don’t have another deadline yet, so I’m planning a creative break, as long as I need, once this project is over. I’ll start the next one when I feel ready.
Back to the Woods
Did this project navigator session make Rick’s book a better one? It’s too soon to know. It’s unlikely to make it a worse one. In any case, he’s back to the woods, working in his new rhythm in the Share stage.
According to Rick, his first Project Map Navigator exercise helped him see that what felt right and successful to him in the Solve stage now feels all wrong as he moves into Share. To keep himself fit and happy to be the creator of this novel in this final segment of the work, and hopefully, for many projects to come, it’s time to shift gears.
If you’re deep into a creative project, when did you last come out of the woods for a breather, and a look around?
Wherever you are in your project, you can give the Creativity Compass a try. Let me know how it worked for you.