As with yesterday’s episode, I want to do something different and share an excerpt from a book I published a few years ago. It’s called The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. It’s a short, fun read that will help you increase your creativity in writing and your other creative work.

One quick note: you’ll hear me reference my college office—that’s because I wrote the book while I was still a college professor.

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U is for Unfinished

All around the world, in homes, offices, and studios, there are unfinished works of art that will never see the light of day. Does one of them belong to you?

When I’m sitting in my office, I see lots of great art. On the wall to my right are movie posters for two of my favorite films, Citizen Kane and The Searchers. On the wall to the left, there is a print of Rembrandt’s masterpiece The Return of the Prodigal Son.

On the bookshelf beside me are models for some of my favorite vehicles, including the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, the time-traveling DeLorean from Back to the Future, and the Mach 5 from Speed Racer. The bookshelves behind me hold hundreds of books and DVDs. The iPhone on my desk contains hundreds of songs, dozens of podcast episodes, and a few dozen apps.

And the MacBook Pro I’m using to write this book is also a work of art!

All these items were created by people who finished their work. These products and works of art began as ideas in someone’s mind, but they didn’t stay that way. Their creators worked on the concepts (usually collaborating with others) and the ideas began to take shape. But most important, they finished their work.

This is where it’s easy to get sidetracked. You have a great idea, you start to work on it, and you build momentum. You might even share it with a few people. But then as you work on it, you start to lose steam. Life gets busy, you lose focus, and you don’t finish your work.

Sometimes our work ends up like the movie Superman Lives. You say you’ve never heard of this movie? That’s because it was never finished.

In the 1990s, the Warner Bros. studio decided to resurrect the Superman franchise. They cycled through a few directors before landing on Tim Burton, who had given the studio great success, particularly with 1989’s Batman and its sequel, Batman Returns. Screenwriters worked on several drafts of a script. Production staff worked on sets and special effects. Nicholas Cage was cast as Superman and filmed screen tests with the redesigned costume.

But after years of development and endless problems, the studio shut down production. A great deal of time and energy, not to mention millions of dollars, went down the drain and Superman Lives was never finished. What could have been one of the most interesting movies from the 1990s ended up as just another “might have been.”

Everyone has a “might have been” story. It may not be a big Hollywood movie, but I’ll bet you’ve started something you’d love to finish. It might be a book, a piece of music, a painting, or something you’re building or making with your hands. You want to finish it, but you just can’t seem to find the time.

In the bottom of someone’s desk drawer, there is an Oscar-winning screenplay. It just needs to be finished.

On someone’s hard drive, there is a New York Times best-selling novel. It just needs to be finished.

In someone’s closet, there is a painting worthy of display in a gallery. It just needs to be finished.

On someone’s college transcript, there is a degree listed with most of the required classes already taken. The degree could open doors and unlock someone’s potential. It just needs to be finished.

In someone’s journal, tucked away on a bookshelf, are sketches that could be the basis for a comic strip or an animated movie. They just need to be finished.

On someone’s sketchpad are drawings for a remodeled kitchen, basement, or treehouse. They just need to be finished.

On someone’s CDs or hard drive are rough demos of Grammy-winning songs. They just need to be finished.

Is that someone you?

If so, what can you do to turn your “might have beens” into reality?

What creative art do you still have unfinished?