Turn, Turn, Turn – A Time for Every Project Under Heaven | By Steven W. Alloway

I recently started reading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. I actually bought the first book, The Color of Magic, probably close to 20 years ago. But for some reason, I just could never get into it. I read the first couple of pages, and it didn’t really click. I tried several times over the years, but I could never get very far.

My friends are always shocked by this. “But Discworld is so good!” they’ll tell me. “And it seems right up your alley! How could you not like it?” I never said I didn’t like it. I said I couldn’t get into it. And recognizing the difference has been a key part of my creative journey.

Right Book, Wrong Time

One of the reasons I can recognize the difference is because this isn’t the first time something like this has happened to me. In high school, I bought an old library copy of the book The Virginian. Considered not only a classic, but basically the origin of almost every major trope of the Western genre, I was eager to read it.

At first, I was enjoying it. Then, there came a chapter that just bogged me down. I couldn’t get into it, I wasn’t interested in what was happening, and to make matters worse, I could tell from the chapter titles that this was going to go on for another three chapters after this one. So I rolled my eyes and gave up.

It wasn’t until several years out of college that I picked it up and tried again. I reread the first few chapters, which I had enjoyed, then gritted my teeth to slog through that 4-chapter slump that had tripped me up the first time.

But you know what? That section ended up being probably my favorite part of the entire book. It was interesting, it was engaging, it was well-written, and moreover, it was really funny. Once I got through that section, I finished the rest fairly easily, and it turns out, the entire book is brilliant. It’s now one of my all-time favorites.

Sometimes I find myself thinking… What happened, back in high school? How did I start reading this book and yet completely miss how good it was? In high school, I thought the problem was with the book. When I finally finished it, I assumed the problem must be with me. But what I’ve come to realize is that it wasn’t really a problem with either of us. It just wasn’t that book’s time yet. In order to appreciate it, I had to wait until it WAS time.

And now the same is true of Discworld. For 20 years, it wasn’t the right time for that book. Now I can’t put it down, and I’m looking forward to exploring some of the many other books in the series as well.

Ironically, the reason I picked it up again was because I needed a change of pace from the previous book I had been reading, which turned out not to be what I expected. I’m sure that book’s time will come too—in a few months, a few years… Who knows how long it might take? But when the time does come, I know it will be waiting for me.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you’ll find that a book is Not For You. But other times, you’ll find that it is for you… It’s just not for right now. And I’ve found that the same thing is often true of creative endeavors. Last week, Becky talked about the seasons we have as creators. But our projects have their seasons too. “To everything turn, turn, turn,” says the song (and also the book of Ecclesiastes, but the Byrds made it catchy). “There is a season. Turn, turn, turn. And a time to every purpose under heaven.”

For anything we’re faced with, there’s a time to do it, and a time not to do it. So even if we’re in the spring of trying new things or the summer of creative intensity, the project we’re working on might not have reached its time yet.

Chasing La Mancha

One of my favorite filmmakers, Terry Gilliam, had a film he wanted to make called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. For a decade or more, he made plans and preparations to put the film into production—running into a host of problems and obstacles along the way. Eventually, he was able to assemble a cast, secure funding, and go to Spain, finally, to shoot the film.

They only shot for a few days. During that time, production was plagued by sound issues, weather issues, scheduling issues, and eventually, some serious health issues for the actor playing Don Quixote. There’s a documentary about the experience called Lost in La Mancha, and it’s a fascinating glimpse into Gilliam’s creative process, as well as all the problems that can plague a film’s production, be they technical, administrative, or just acts of God. Terry tried to make it work, but ultimately, there was nothing to do but give up and go home.

But though he did indeed go home, Gilliam didn’t give up. He put the film aside, sure, and focused on other projects for a while. But Don Quixote was never completely forgotten. Another decade and a half went by before he was able to produce it, but eventually, in 2019, the film was finally released—along with a new documentary about the new, ultimately successful production. It took well over 20 years, but Don Quixote finally had its time.

When Is It Time?

I don’t know if I have a white whale quite as big as Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote, but I definitely have more than a few projects I’ve tried to make that are still waiting for their time. I’ve talked about a few of them in previous articles.

There’s The Six Servants, which I wrote in 2019 with the intention of performing it in Kazakhstan, and which, six years later, I’m still trying to find the right company, the right venue, the right cast, and the right resources to do it justice. Then there’s The Pound-a-Line Poet, which I had hoped to mount last year, but the moment I finished writing the script, I just said, “That’s not happening yet.” Neither of those projects has reached its time yet. But I haven’t forgotten them or given them up.

So what AM I doing? Or, more to the point, what should I, or you, or anyone, do while waiting for a project’s time to come? How do you know when a project has reached its time? Or which project it’s currently time for?

A large part of it is patience. But at the same time, if all you’re doing is waiting for the right time, then you’re going to be disappointed. First of all, just waiting doesn’t actually bring you any closer to your goal. And second of all, it’s rarely going to feel like the right time when you get started.  In fact, if you’re doing it right, even when it is the right time, starting a new project should make you at least a little nervous, if not a little terrified. So if you’re not careful, “It’s not the right time yet” can become an excuse for staying in your comfort zone.

Though on the other hand, patience is still important. There can be times when it SEEMS like you’re just waiting, doing nothing, but actually you’re making yourself and your project ready, in ways you’re not even aware of. On the surface, nothing on your project is getting done. But behind the scenes, you’re becoming the person you need to be, to do the thing you want to do. 

So how do you tell the difference between waiting and growing? You kind of just have to feel it out. It’s not an exact science. There can be a bit of trial and error involved. There may be times when you put a project aside for a while, then come back to it, only to find that it’s still not the right time yet. So put it aside again. Live your life, create other things, make connections, learn, grow… And then come back again. And keep coming back, until it’s finally Time. 

Or to put it another way: Turn, turn, turn. If you keep turning, keep doing, keep moving forward, then eventually the right time will come along. But if all you’re doing is standing still, waiting for the “right time” without actually doing anything, then it will never happen.

In the meantime, you need to keep checking in every now and then. Take stock of your life, your resources, your current path. Does this project make sense in your life now in a way that it didn’t previously? Have you grown and matured to a point where it seems more feasible than it once did? (Or, alternately, have you become more reckless and foolhardy than you once were, to the point where jumping off the cliff and seeing where you land seems like a viable option? This is, in fact, a form of growing and maturing as well, but that’s a topic for a whole other article.)

Recognizing Opportunities

You also need to keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground. The “right time” can present itself when you least expect it. I have a friend with whom I’ve been talking for years about collaborating on some sort of theater project. We happened to run into each other the other day and talked again about that “maybe someday” collaboration. Maybe something about time travel or space travel or robots—

Wait a minute. I actually have a stage script in mind about robots that I’ve been meaning to write for ages. It’s also always been a “maybe someday” type of project that it never feels like the right time. Maybe this is the opportunity I’ve been looking for. Maybe the right time has finally come for not one but two different creative endeavors that have been sitting on the back burner, waiting to be ready.

In the end, the only way to know for sure is to try it. Patience is important. Letting things steep until they’re ready is important. But it’s also important to take leaps of faith. If it’s not time yet, then it won’t happen, and you can always just go back to waiting and getting ready. But often, the only way to know if it IS time is to try it and see what happens. And if it is, in fact, the right time, then what happens could well be nothing short of magical.