In yesterday’s post, I advised noticing which projects have legs so you’ll always be working on a winner. But how do you know which projects have legs? What does that even mean?
If you have a book, a script, a sketch, a performance—or anything—there are signs to watch for.
A project can have legs at any stage, from the very beginning, when it’s just a fresh notion in your head, to the very end, when you’ve already invested untold time and money to make it happen.
By the same token, a project can be a dud at any stage, too. Far too often, people pursue projects all the way through that have no legs, which leads to crippling disillusionment, disappointment, and regret.
Don’t do that. Go through this checklist to make sure you’re betting on the right horse.
Your creative project has legs if at least four of these conditions are met:
• You feel a deep and powerful passion to bring the project into the world.
• Creative ideas about how to execute the project flow easily from your mind (for example, story beats for a novel, or jokes and tags for a comedy bit).
• Creative ideas about how to execute the project flow easily from the minds of other creative people who hear about your project (for example, scene ideas for a script, or bits for a podcast).
• People in your circle who have heard about your project ask about it and want to know your progress on it.
• People who hear about your project are genuinely entertained and interested in it.
• People laugh or cry when they hear about it.
• You’re making or you have a specific plan for making money with the project.
• Professionals in the entertainment industry ask you about it and want to help with it.
Your creative project doesn’t have legs if the conditions above aren’t met, and if at least two of these conditions are met:
• You feel a deep and powerful passion to bring the project into the world. (Yes, this will happen regardless of whether a project has legs.)
• No one else seems to share your passion for the project.
• When you tell people about the project, they smile politely but don’t lean in or and express real interest.
• When you tell people about the project, they don’t understand it, or they offer unsolicited feedback about how you could do it differently.
• You feel a nagging sense that you’re propelling the project forward even though you know it’s a mistake.
That’s all it takes. Now you’ll have an easier time spotting winners.
Good luck and have fun.
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