[Wobbly]

Hey y'all.

I'm currently in the midst of a huge creative project. It's the culmination of a dream I've had for a long time. I've amassed a small team of collaborators, been working at it for over a year, and I feel very frustrated at times about my seeming inability to make good progress. The project requires a good storyline. I'm in charge of that. The project is similar to a video game, with interactive elements.

I (like all ENFPs??) am good at big dreams. The inital buzz of creativity around making this thing meant that the initial pieces fell together relatively easily. Then, when I went in to flesh out the details, I end up getting lost and panicking, then shutting down, when I worry that I'm straying from the heart of the thing. The core concepts, the initial idea, and the heart of the thing are fantastic. It feels like when I go through and "fix" something though, either in the backstory or in the story design (i.e. should this character reveal this bit of information earlier or later) it feels like I very swiftly lose track of if the change is serving the project as a whole, or if I just am drawn to every new idea.

I am always the person to get people fired up around a new creative idea. I have great ideas. But then they all look to me to keep the momentum going, and get the thing more and more fleshed out. So I take on that role, and any role necessary, to make it happen. I write whatever needs to be written, I email whoever needs to be emailed, I research what needs to be researched... all in service of the initial idea. Because I'm the guy who came up with it, so I feel the burden of being the guy to work the hardest to make it happen. I feel like I fail them, and fail myself, when it feels really really fucking hard to do that.

In a perfect world, I'd have a collaborator who is better at fleshing out details than me, and I can keep an eye on the big picture. But I don't have that luxury right now, nor do I know exactly how to find that person. I'm also not confident that my "eye on the big picture" wouldn't get bored and just love every new idea presented to me, just for its new-ness. So how the fuck can I be a productive, creative person? I want to make things that I care about, rather than try to fit in to other people's things. I'm an actor. I love being in plays I care about. I hate being in plays I don't care about, or don't like the director's style, or don't resonate with the artistic vision of the piece, etc. So I want to create my own stuff. So that I can be involved in stuff I care about. Not because *I* created it, but because I always have AWESOME FUCKING IDEAS that come from somewhere outside of me, and I want to will them into creation. To give them as a gift to the world. To help people feel as inspired in watching and experiencing it, as I did when I initially thought, "Woah! That would be cool." That's what it's all about for me. There's an awesome thing in my head, the world should see it. I want to see it.

So, here I am, writing this thing, making my changes. With each change I feel at first like "Oh! This fixes the problem, great! But did it create new problems? Are those new problems OK, because the change I made was necessary?"

As an actor, I'm really good at making lots of exciting off-the-cuff choices in rehearsal. I can perform a scene convincingly 10 different ways. But choosing one, remembering it, and sticking with it is difficult for me. Same with writing, I'm finding. Do others feel this way, and do they have tactics that help them make good progress?

 

[odinthor]

You're eating the frosting out of the bowl instead of spreading it on the cake.

Yes, absolutely, it's fun to generate ideas...forever blowing bubbles...pretty bubbles in the air...

I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air,
They fly so high, nearly reach the sky,
Then like my dreams they fade and die.
Fortune's always hiding,
I've looked everywhere,
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.

It's seductive, like a drug. The thing is, for the good of your ideas, you have to engage: Engage with the purpose of the effort, engage with reality. And you already know this, knowing your need of a collaborator to flesh out the details. But you have to be your own collaborator. You have to be fair to your ideas and self. How to do this? Draw on your experience in the theater: Start being the director. You already reflect on how the different aspects of the presentation integrate; now you have to be the person to knit it all together. If it's lack of self-confidence that's holding you back, this is one of those things in which you just have to throw yourself into and do your own thing, learning and adjusting moment by moment. I've had two big big projects in writing that I've brought to successful fruition. Modesty aside, one of them completely changed the discipline it's in; and the other is in the process of making its mark. I didn't have anything to model my efforts on--I just thought it through in each case, essentially said to myself, "If not me, then who? If not now, then when?", and proceeded according to my own lights. But all along I kept in mind what about the person at the other end of this effort? What will make it most useful/most efficient for him? And that's what you need to do, actor: Enact the end-user, imagine yourself being the receiver of the efforts you're undertaking, imagine how he will react to this choice and that choice you've made or are considering. This will take you out of the realm of just ideas--as wonderful as that realm is--and into the realm of actually succeeding in the real world with the ideas. The realm of ideas will always be there for you to return to as soon as you've taken care of the real-world necessities, so you're not losing anything by stepping out of that world for a moment; and what you're gaining is life for your ideas, your children. And so, actor, be the audience...

 

[68097]

Tert-Te development might help you.

If I have a huge / abstract idea that I want to bring into reality, I have to break it down into manageable chunks first -- one chapter, one page, one advancement at a time. I keep track of my progress / make myself charts / spreadsheets so I can cross things off, to mark my progress, since it makes me feel better to see progress. Sometimes, you just have to push through with/without inspiration; inspiration will come. But you have to self-motivate / self-discipline yourself to stick with it, and delve into details, even when it's exhausting and hard.

 

[Llyralen]

Hey y'all.

I'm currently in the midst of a huge creative project. It's the culmination of a dream I've had for a long time. I've amassed a small team of collaborators, been working at it for over a year, and I feel very frustrated at times about my seeming inability to make good progress. The project requires a good storyline. I'm in charge of that. The project is similar to a video game, with interactive elements.

I (like all ENFPs??) am good at big dreams. The inital buzz of creativity around making this thing meant that the initial pieces fell together relatively easily. Then, when I went in to flesh out the details, I end up getting lost and panicking, then shutting down, when I worry that I'm straying from the heart of the thing. The core concepts, the initial idea, and the heart of the thing are fantastic. It feels like when I go through and "fix" something though, either in the backstory or in the story design (i.e. should this character reveal this bit of information earlier or later) it feels like I very swiftly lose track of if the change is serving the project as a whole, or if I just am drawn to every new idea.

I am always the person to get people fired up around a new creative idea. I have great ideas. But then they all look to me to keep the momentum going, and get the thing more and more fleshed out. So I take on that role, and any role necessary, to make it happen. I write whatever needs to be written, I email whoever needs to be emailed, I research what needs to be researched... all in service of the initial idea. Because I'm the guy who came up with it, so I feel the burden of being the guy to work the hardest to make it happen. I feel like I fail them, and fail myself, when it feels really really fucking hard to do that.

In a perfect world, I'd have a collaborator who is better at fleshing out details than me, and I can keep an eye on the big picture. But I don't have that luxury right now, nor do I know exactly how to find that person. I'm also not confident that my "eye on the big picture" wouldn't get bored and just love every new idea presented to me, just for its new-ness. So how the fuck can I be a productive, creative person? I want to make things that I care about, rather than try to fit in to other people's things. I'm an actor. I love being in plays I care about. I hate being in plays I don't care about, or don't like the director's style, or don't resonate with the artistic vision of the piece, etc. So I want to create my own stuff. So that I can be involved in stuff I care about. Not because *I* created it, but because I always have AWESOME FUCKING IDEAS that come from somewhere outside of me, and I want to will them into creation. To give them as a gift to the world. To help people feel as inspired in watching and experiencing it, as I did when I initially thought, "Woah! That would be cool." That's what it's all about for me. There's an awesome thing in my head, the world should see it. I want to see it.

So, here I am, writing this thing, making my changes. With each change I feel at first like "Oh! This fixes the problem, great! But did it create new problems? Are those new problems OK, because the change I made was necessary?"

As an actor, I'm really good at making lots of exciting off-the-cuff choices in rehearsal. I can perform a scene convincingly 10 different ways. But choosing one, remembering it, and sticking with it is difficult for me. Same with writing, I'm finding. Do others feel this way, and do they have tactics that help them make good progress?

It's good to keep remembering that if we stay on task the MBTI describes us as people who CAN do amazing things! We ARE capable. Now for the staying on task!!!! The hardest part!

 

[Tridentus]

This is the crux of the ENFP maturing process imo.. How to translate your inspirations into pragmatism.

Think about it strategically- who do you need to collaborate with in order to pick up the slack in the mid-to-late game? Find that person and keep them on board so that they can shine for you at the right moment. That is the crux of being a leader (which to my mind is kinda what you're getting at)- being able to make the bigger picture calls throughout the process, when people around you are unable to.