Getting rid of the preciousness
One of the things that really slows me down when working on "serious" personal projects like "Heart String Marionette" is that I'm too precious with them... I don't treat them like films... I treat them like some holy artifact made of hollow glass that I've gotta be a careful with like a newborn baby or something...
I'm sure you all have your "babies"- the personal projects you've wanted to do for years that have become this behemoth that looms over everything you do and the longer it takes to get made the more perfect it must be... the better... the shinier... but you're better off just pushing them around and making them do or say what you want without fear of breaking them... if they break they were too weak in the first place and they should be rebuilt... so slap em around!
For example- in the writing phase... you should try to tear apart your precious story because if you don't smooth out as many flaws as you can they will remain- and the viewers will tear them out for you...
This preciousness is difficult for me to articulate but it really does slow you down- it causes us to put things off and procrastinate... NO I can't make this model yet because I'm not good enough and it must look perfect! or another one that I use- NO I can't have the characters do lip sync because I'm not good enough at it and it'll look terrible!
To get through this bullshit I have to always remind myself that these mostly technical hangups I'm getting stuck on don't matter much in the end... NO it can't be horrible in a technical sense BUT if the story, mood and characters are all on point than the technical stuff doesn't matter so much...
I think part of it is this caring too much thing... its like that overbearing love that causes people to destroy the things they love through suffocation... don't suffocate your babies! Give them some room to breathe and cut them some slack!
We all have to start somewhere and we're never going to be perfect from the get go... so take a deep breath and don't be so hard on yourself or your work- do your best without being a suffocating psychopath ^_^
So don't be an overbearing "parent" forcing the pressure of being perfect onto your child- let them know of your good intentions, guide them the best you can without smothering them and let them be what they are.
Brought to you by professional weirdo M dot Strange.