Throughout any creative process, decisions must be made. Decisions are the barrier between incompleteness and a final product. Whether under the banner of perfectionism, distraction or laziness, it’s indecision that leaves a project unfinished. There’s rarely a magical moment where you’ve found perfection or the muses deliver the exact answers to what you seek. It does happen. More often though, you must will the endpoint.
One of my strengths over the years has been to finish. I was once slowed by perfectionism, but once I started working sessions I knew I had to perform and finish to the artists’ expectations. Here are some quick tips on how I make those decisions.
Deadlines
A realistic deadline that you set and stick to can help you close the door on a project. Setting the deadline too far away won’t create any urgency and setting it too close will create undue stress. Set a deadline that forces you stay focused without being a detriment to the other responsibilities in your life.
Budget
Budget helps determine deadline as well. If you’re paying for production and studio time, there’s a bottom line for how much of that you’re able to afford. This can help make the decision for you. Determine your budget, find out how much time that gives you and lay out a schedule to completion within those parameters.
Usage
Consider this to help you finish- How will this project be used? Are you releasing a new single to 100 fans or a new album to your fanbase of 100,000? If you’re at an earlier stage in the fan-building process, I think it’s more important to finish more work faster. Keep the ideas flowing out to experiment and find the sweet spot where your interests and talents best intersect with an audience. I’m definitely not encouraging you to release half-ass efforts, but tiny things like getting this little FX setting over here perfect and the panning of this and that just right, etc. is starting down a path of diminishing returns.
Once you have a large fanbase that’s buying your music and coming to shows, it’s more appropriate to spend more time getting closer to perfection (whatever that means). You’ve earned that level of attention from your fans.
Referencing
I’ve written about referencing a few times and it will keep coming up. Referencing is simply comparing your record to someone else’s. Here’s how that can help you make decisions - how far away does your record sound from released records in your style that you admire? It should sound different but still high quality. If yours sounds a million miles away from the references, then yeah you’re not there yet. But if your track would sound appropriate in a playlist with your references, it’s close to time to leave well enough alone and call it final.
If you don’t finish with the creating of the art, you can’t begin the sharing of it. I think that is the mental block for many - they can hide from the pain of sharing their work by leaving it perpetually unfinished. If you’re having trouble calling a project done, let these thinking prompts guide you to completion so you can take on the scary yet rewarding task of putting your art of there.
-Drew Mantia
Feel Good Music Recordings
3146264270
feelgoodmusicrecordings@gmail.com