Originally published 100523

A sudden insight. A new realization.

Recognizing something completely obvious (along with its implications) for the first time.

And now I have a new tool to use.

The problem contains its solution. Rough it out. It will be incomplete. Publish and accept that the process will bear fruit further down the timeline.

Why? Because I can feel it. That’s how I’ve successfully navigated these mazes in the past.

Find a way and trust the process.

While working on the Flash animation (014), which would most likely make or break my career, I scattered keyframes (and symbols) across individual layers along the timeline, continually testing and revising the animation.

At no point in the process was I finished.

I spent roughly half the weekend learning how to create the 15-second animation, and the other half refining it. Had I shown the kids the first completed version, I doubt many would have been impressed. It was stilted. Mechanical. Uninspired. (Like the red circle I’d shown them on Friday.)

020402: Judgment Day

The animation breathes. It’s believable. Not bad for a first project, but plenty of room for improvement.

That’s just where I was when time ran out.

Although iteration has long been central to my creative process, I’d never fully accepted the notion of placing words on a page in the same spirit as a rough sketch of an idea. Individual words, sentences, and quests as works in progress. Unfinished art.

If I want my prose to sing, I’ve got to give it time to find its key.

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This seems acceptable. (And that last sentence resonates.)

But I often see what I intended to say rather than what actually landed on the page.

After publishing, I’ll see it from another angle—from another’s hypothetical point of view (003)—and the revisions will begin.

And that’s okay.

Accept it. Heck, embrace it. This is and will be a messy process.

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Context: This serves as both evidence and a reminder. Trust the process.

As you’ll see in 049, iterative writing was already part of my process. I’d sand the rough edges, but every day was a new deadline. There wasn’t time to polish.

Featured Image: The base geometry is courtesy of Christopher’s Structure app. Starter file:

Enhanced version:

(I played with that more after cropping it.)

Structure’s UI (2018 screenshot):

Note to Self: Some student apps no longer launch. Ask AI to patch their code, then get some better screenshots.

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