Why don’t we finish the projects we love? We start out with high hopes and a big burst of energy, but then doubt, judgment and fear overtake that strong beginning. The sparkling idea becomes source of shame, but yet we can’t let it go. After a while this beloved expression of our creativity hangs around in an undefined space somewhere between procrastination and giving up. It nags at us. It makes us feel bad about our past and our future. We fear we’ll never finish and we also fear what will happen if we do. This is the pervasive agony that Cary Tennis decided to address when he thought up Finishing School and we decided to write a book about his method of getting that project done.
Today “Finishing School: The Happy Ending To That Project You Just Can’t Seem To Get Done” goes out to publishers for sale, and we’re very excited about it.
Finishing School worked for me, someone who usually has no trouble finishing things. Being a journalist my whole professional life has given me a very practical approach to my work. I turn things in on deadline knowing it is as good as I could make it in the time I had. Yet I ended up in Finishing School when found myself with a project close to my heart that dragged for years. The occasional attempts to finish it forced me into all the dodges and vanities. After two months in Finishing School I’d completed a second draft.
I was amazed that Cary’s method worked for people who had abandoned their novel eighteen years ago as well as for someone like me. In the two months I was in Finishing School people were more productive, more decisive about their work, than I’d ever seen in another writing group.
When Cary and I decided to write this book, we started to analyze all the emotional factors that prevent people from finishing. As a result we came up with a fresh take on the writers block. I can share more of that once the book is sold but for now, all of you out there with half completed novels in a dusty corner of your desktop, don’t lose hope. Finishing School doesn’t require you to become a better person who is more organized, more disciplined and has life under control. You also don’t have to undergo years of therapy. Finishing School frees you up and you can simply write.
Today our agent Linda Loewenthal sent it out to ten publishers and we’ve got our fingers crossed to contain our excitement.