Done!

By A.P. Lambert

Have you ever woken up in the dead of night to the constant chirp-chirp of a smoke detector that’s low on batteries? It’s more than just annoying—the sound drills into your brain, refusing to leave you alone until you deal with the problem.
Unfinished projects are the same way. They keep shouting, “I’m still here!” over and over again. They just won’t let you forget about them. And the more there are, the worse it is.
And those are just the things you have to do. Creative projects carry their own sort of weight: you want to work on them, you know you should finish them some day, but you just haven’t been able to—there are so many other things you need to do first.
At last, the time has come to deal with the problem. It’s time to open up that closet filled with all those sad, abandoned projects you promised you’d get to “some day.” It's time to take your creation from “work in progress” to “done, done, and done!” and give yourself (and your shelf) some relief.
Done! is about finishing fast and finishing well.
In this book, you’ll learn some valuable lessons, like how to invite ideas, ditch distractions, track time, and maintain momentum. You will have a clear goal and a plan for reaching it—all in ten short (and fun) chapters.
Whether you're starting a brand new project or picking one back up, Done! is the book to guide you through all the essential steps from start to finish in a timely manner—just one month, in fact.
At long last, you’ll be excited and ready to take on the next project, and the one after that. No more dread, no more anxiety over all those loose ends. Finally, you'll have some relief and a product you can be proud of.
So, what are you waiting for? Pick up Done! and get on the fast track to a fantastic finished project.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A.P. Lambert
• Release date: Sep 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463585092

A.P. Lambert

A. P. Lambert has dipped his figurative ladle into many a creative sauce-pot, even taken a heaping portion from a few. His experiences include character animation, graphic design, video editing, music (guitar and percussion), special effects, game design, painting, drawing, acting, and writing. He has worked on hundreds of video game titles including Gears of War, Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, Uncharted, Call of Duty, Injustice, Mortal Kombat, and Resident Evil. He has also worked on some films (Ninja Turtles, The Great Wall, Invictus, Tron Legacy), some commercials (that first Kia Soul commercial with the dancing hamsters and the robots), and even a popular animated YouTube channel. The creative force has been a major part of his life for as far back as he can remember. Whether it was making up a song to play on guitar, drawing pages and pages of undiscovered alien races, performing a Shakespeare play while dressed in motocross gear, designing board games from cereal boxes, or just throwing unusual ingredients into his lunch (salami and cheese waffle sandwich anyone?), he's always had a penchant to try new things and explore the unusual.

Book preview

Done!

Finish Your Creative Project in One Month

By A. P. Lambert

Copyright©2017 by A. P. Lambert

Cover by A. P. Lambert

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

CONTENTS

INTRO

1: START

2: IDEAS

3: RESEARCH

4: ORIGINAL

5: FOCUS

6: TIME

7: LIMITS

8: MOMENTUM

9: SIDETRACKS

10: FINISH

11: BEYOND

LAST WORD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Intro

Unfinished projects eat at me. They’re like little birds gathered on my shoulders that squawk and peck away—they demand attention while I try to do something else. They don’t let go.

Have you felt this way? Do you carry the weight of all those unfinished projects on your shoulders? Do they nag at you, with whispers from the back corners of your mind? Do they make you feel just a little bit crazy? And those are just the things you have to do.

Creative projects carry their own sort of weight: you want to work on them, you want to put the stamp of completion on them, but you just haven’t been able to for some reason. I should know—I’ve had plenty of them.

But lately, I haven’t had much trouble completing my projects. Why? Because I’ve begun to take them on, bit by bit, one by one. And you know what? They’re getting done, even faster than they’re piling up. And it feels good—real good.

Your time has come as well. It’s time to open up that scary closet filled with all your sad, abandoned projects that you promised you’d get to one day.

Yes, my creative friends, it’s time to deal with the heavy burden you’ve carried for far too long. It’s time to take a project and commit to running it across the finish line. It’s time to call it good and give yourself (and your shelf) a little relief. It’s time to take your creation from work in progress to done, done, and done!

And just how will you accomplish this when you’ve failed so many times before? Well, you’ll just have to read on to find out.

But, before you do, I want to let you know about some available freebees that supplement this material, including:

- A ten-part email course

- Dazzling infographics

- Printer-friendly worksheets

- And a bonus story about the cover design and what I learned in the process

You can find all this and more at my website, www.CreativeAndBeyond.com/Done.

And now, on with the show!

1: Start

Back in high school they made us run. Every day. It’s not like it was a death camp or anything, but from some of the complaints I heard, you might have thought it was. Sometimes it was a warm-up jog, sometimes a test to see how fast we could run a mile, sometimes a competition—a race against other students. But every run had a goal, a finish line.

I remember during our mile runs, at least a third of my classmates didn’t even try; they casually walked around the track until they either finished or were dismissed. To them, the goal didn’t matter; they didn’t even want to be there.

One time, at the start of a race, someone tripped me from behind—I went sprawling and landed hard on my hands and knees. I got back up as fast as I could but had a nice scrape on my knee. It hurt and continued to bleed, but it wasn’t enough to stop me from moving. So I just ran as best I could to the end. I didn’t win, but