Beginings and Endings

9. “It is as difficult to start things as it is to finish things.”

Finishing something cans sometimes be difficult, from procrastination to general distractions, getting to the end is a chore in itself. Add that to that nibbling self doubt as you come to the end and become more scrutinizing of your work, always going back to change or alter something... With each change the end becomes father away, and every time it comes close more changes are made. It's a cycle of infinite incompletion.

But you know what? Starting something is even harder. I talked before about motivation, so already just sitting down to work is a challenge. But actually getting started? Making that first move even when you have the motivation to do so... It can be nearly impossible. For writers it's that first line, the first hump. The line needs to grab you, it needs to lead you into the rest of the work, simply put it needs to be good. But when you sit down at your word processor, try and think of an opening like that isn't an equivalent to "It was a dark and stormy night."

I think this is because at the beginning you have nothing. Nothing but ideas, maybe a few notes, a few broad concepts of how you want to do the task at hand. You are the farthest you can be from being done. Ending becomes difficult because you have little left to do, so you start going back to make sure everything done was done well... But you know you're almost done, the end is in sight. When you start you have nothing, you have to take the first step.

And that's what it's all about isn't it? That first step, going from zero to one, going from nothing to something. Before starting this article I spent twenty minutes frustrated over how to begin, how to start, how to simply get the ball moving. Momentum is a powerful thing, and with each step towards the end my goal comes closer to me. I move with quickened pace to completion, banging at my keyboard with nary an issue now. I'm almost done. The hardest thing now will be my closing line.

Starting something is harder than finishing. A brick wall standing between you and your goal, it seems impenetrable at first, that first brick seems so secure, so unmovable. But once you start, once you take that first step forward, each brick that falls becomes easier and easier. Nothing to something, it may be only a moment compared to the rest, but it takes a lot to start.

That first step is a doosey.