A Poor Finisher

I just read an article in which a well-respected artist referred to himself  a "poor-finisher," referring to the habit of starting and then abandoning many projects before ever completing anything. He asserts that this is a widely-shared characteristic among creative people, and that art is generally richer for it. Here is that article on line.

I needed to read that this morning, because if ever there was a poor finisher, it's me. Creative projects big and small take hold of me, and I may work obsessively until the idea peters out and I move on to something else. On the other hand, sometimes I can write complete, well-crafted songs, practically one after the other, in just hours or even minutes. Or I can produce complete drawings and/or paintings almost compulsively for days or weeks on end. But I have journals and notebooks and sketchbooks filled with starts and ideas and sketches and half verses never revisited.

Similarly, I started this blog as a "writing and recording project," but over time, I found it hard to complete posts, so I have come to rarely write anything. But perhaps I need to let go of trying to finish things and just post more of what's going on in my head on the "better out than in" principle.

Hemingway's famous advice to himself was, write one true sentence, and then go on from there." My true sentence for today is, "I am a poor finisher."