Slowdown the Rush

Creative people often describe how they suddenly get an impulse to create something. It’s like a switch goes on and they must carry the current out into the world. An idea pops up and then off they go to their dark editing room, their writing room, their artist cave. In actuality, this current is constantly flowing. It’s always there under the surface. It may be blocked at times. It may be humming quietly, but it is there. It is helpful to trust that it won’t go away. Don’t panic and rush.

A number of years back, I was on this kick not to eat anything sweet. My rule was that if I wanted something sweet, I needed to make it myself and, like everything else I eat, make it gluten free. And, being that my life has always been crazy, hectic, I rarely had time to bake. Great plan, right? Well, not exactly.

So, every once and a while, I’d get this urge to have something sweet. And when I did, I just told myself, I didn’t have time for that. Again and again, I told myself this.

And then one day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I was going to have something sweet. Everything else could wait…except in my head, it really couldn’t so I had to rush what I was going to make.

Have you ever tried to cut corners when baking? I have to say the results aren’t pretty or particularly edible. I melted the butter in advance to speed up the mixing time. I got thin batter. The clock was ticking so did I stop to fix it. No! I forged on, spooning the thin batter on my cookie sheet. This resulted in a “lake of cookie dough.” Did that stop me from putting it in the oven. No! I thought, “It will be one large cookie.”. In the end, I got one large thin burnt disk that looked like something pulled out of car wreckage.

It’s was not edible and I was extraordinarily disappointed. I remember thinking “I can’t even have some cookies? My life sucks.” I wanted to start again, but I spent my cookie money. (At the time baking ingredients were a luxury for me.) I think I cried. I cried because all I wanted to do was bake some simple, gluten free, chocolate chip cookies which were completely within my abilities to make and I knew it was my fault it all went awry. I could have had my magnificent cookies, but I didn’t take the time I needed to make them. I rushed and paid the price for it. There was no saving the cookies. The cookies were dead and cremated.

If you rush a film, the film will inevitably be a train wreck. No one will be able to tell the locomotive from the caboose and no one will want to try.

I’ve seen people do this. They have all these reasons they need to finish the film. “I haven’t made a film in five years.” So? What’s six more months then? “I really want to apply to this film festival and the late deadline is next week.” Great! That means submissions will open for next year in 8 or 9 months, apply then. You’ll be sure to get in early and the fee will be cheaper. “I met this programmer and she said she’d be on the lookout for my film.” Fabulous! Good things come to those who wait. She can be left in anticipation for a while.

The list of reasons to rush are long but these are just parameters you have imposed on yourself.

I could have made my cookies when I had just a little more time. Then I could have savored them for days. If you give yourself the time to make your film the way you envision it, you will be able to enjoy that film for a lifetime.