Hey, Creative LJ Peoples!

[allizon]

Maybe this is only an issue for those of us who are all ADD, maybe not, but:  

When you're thinking about/planning/even vaguely considering a Big Project, one which can't possibly be done in a week or less...how do you get started on something Big?  How do you know where/at what point to dive in -- how much planning or prep work is enough?  How do you measure your progress?  Or maintain your enthusiasm for the project and not let it just all...drift away?

I'm very curious here.  I want to do something Big but can't seem to keep my focus on any one project long enough, so I wonder if I'm just Doin It Wrong.  Help?

ETA:  So I successfully completed National Novel Writing Month -- I did just over 53,000 words in 30 days.  That was Big, right?  But it also had a very small window attached to it, and an external deadline (of a sort).  So I can sprint toward Big, but I think the kinds of Big Projects I'm vaguely thinking of here aren't so much sprints as marathons.  I clearly need marathon planning/training.  :)

ETA 2:  As I was responding to various comments below, a link to this post about discipline on Zen Habits popped up for me in Twitter.  Thanks, Universe!

Comments

[ceo]

For me, it depends on how much I understand the project going in, or how much I think I understand it. The biggest non-work project I've done recently (other than Benjamin) is the kitchen, and that started with some research, some machinery purchases and a lot of CAD work before I even got to making any sawdust. At every stage I had a pretty good handle on what I had to do, even though it's taken much, much longer than I anticipated. I think what made it work for me was strong intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: I love woodworking, and my existing kitchen was horrible. :-) At one point about halfway through I sat down and plotted out the entire rest of the project step by step, which helped a lot in tracking my progress.

[badlittlemonkey.livejournal.com]

For me, it depends on how much I understand the project going in, or how much I think I understand it.

And this is exactly part of my problem -- how much do I need to understand before I can start working? With creative stuff -- which my current mythical project is -- I'm afraid that if I plan too much before I start working, I sap myself of my enthusiasm to keep working on it. But if I don't plan enough, then things just...don't work right. *sigh*