Momentum

In the chap­ter “Momen­tum,” the author explores the nuances of the Craft phase in the cre­ative process, where set­ting dead­lines becomes cru­cial for progress. Ini­tial­ly unre­strict­ed, this phase can pro­long with­out clear end­points, risk­ing loss of focus and momen­tum. The core notion is that once a vision is clar­i­fied and foun­da­tion­al data col­lect­ed, defin­ing dead­lines helps in tran­si­tion­ing from open-end­ed explo­ration to focused exe­cu­tion. This approach nar­rows the options, mak­ing the path clear­er and akin to refin­ing a sto­ry­board into a film—it involves art, deci­sion-mak­ing, and mechan­i­cal steps but with­in set para­me­ters.

The author likens this to con­struct­ing a build­ing; choic­es in mate­ri­als and details mat­ter but must align with the under­ly­ing blue­print to main­tain integri­ty. Dead­lines in the Craft phase are flex­i­ble, serv­ing more as moti­va­tion than rigid time­lines. This flex­i­bil­i­ty allows for the cre­ative process to cir­cle back to the exper­i­men­ta­tion phase if nec­es­sary. How­ev­er, unwa­ver­ing dead­lines can lead to a rushed out­come, com­pro­mis­ing the qual­i­ty of work. Cre­ativ­i­ty is posi­tioned against busi­ness met­rics, empha­siz­ing that the aim is not just com­ple­tion but achiev­ing time­less excel­lence.

The chap­ter dis­cuss­es pit­falls such as dis­con­nec­tion, where pro­longed craft­ing dis­con­nects the artist from their work, and ‘demo-itis,’ an attach­ment to ear­ly drafts pre­vent­ing improve­ment. To counter this, step­ping away from the work-in-progress pre­vents pre­ma­ture sat­is­fac­tion. Quick, instinc­tive cre­ations some­times cap­ture the essence most pure­ly, chal­leng­ing the belief that exten­sive devel­op­ment is always nec­es­sary.

The strug­gle between a cre­ator’s vision and their cur­rent skill lev­el is high­light­ed. A vision that sur­pass­es abil­i­ty should be seen not as a fail­ure but as a process of find­ing a bal­ance between ambi­tion and fea­si­ble exe­cu­tion. The author advis­es work­ing towards a full first draft while main­tain­ing momen­tum, sug­gest­ing that bypass­ing dif­fi­cult sec­tions tem­porar­i­ly can pro­vide clar­i­ty and moti­va­tion to com­plete the project. This approach ensures that every ele­ment, no mat­ter how chal­leng­ing, finds its right­ful place in the com­plet­ed work, pro­mot­ing a blend of patience and effi­cien­cy in cre­ativ­i­ty.