Unfinished Masterpieces by Bob Jones

Did you know that some of the world’s greatest masterpieces are unfinished projects?

Scholars can’t agree whether Michelangelo’s sculptural creation is a David or an Apollo - but they all agree that, for whatever reason, it wasn’t finished. They’re not sure why.

Although it’s considered one of his best works, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael left sixteen sections of the painting Transfiguration unfinished when he died. Assistants had to finish some of the figures at the lower left.

The Cathedral of Saint John The Divine in upper Manhattan is one of the largest cathedrals in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s complete. Construction began in 1892 and was on-again, off-again. It’s still missing its spires.

A watercolor portrait of President Roosevelt by Elizabeth Shoumatoff was painted on April 12, 1945 at Roosevelt’s Georgia retreat. The duo took a break for lunch, where the President complained, “I have a terrific pain in the back of my head.” He slumped in his chair and was soon declared dead from a stroke. Shoumatoff later finished a second version, but the original remains incomplete.

When I started this post there were eighty-nine draft posts awaiting my attention in my blogsite. The number comes up like a blue light special every time I look at my post list. 

* Most of the posts shouldn’t be finished. Some of those I trash after review but others get to live for

   another day.

* Some of them have potential.

* A few of them will become full-blown posts - masterpieces-in-waiting.

Here’s a way you can use your unfinished posts with potential. 

Take four or five of your best “undeveloped ideas” and offer them up in a post for someone else to finish for you. Write one or two paragraphs per idea. Adopt them out to others. Entitle the post - “Ideas Waiting To Grow Up” or “Posts That One Day Will See The Light.” Your unfinished work could become someone else’s symphony.

I riffle through all of my published posts that are over a year old at least once a month, keeping an eye out for ones that could be updated and re-posted.

One Friday a month I review the unpublished ones that should become full-blown posts. More than once I’ve been surprised to find a forgotten gem. I either complete it and publish it or make a simple edit and save it so that it moves to the top of my unpublished list as a reminder.

Now there are only eight-eight drafts as this writing exercise helped me make some tangible progress.

 

Robert (Bob) W. Jones is a recovering perfectionist, who collects Coca-Cola memorabilia and drinks Iced Tea. His office walls are adorned with his sons’ framed football jerseys, and his library shelves, with soul food. He writes to inspire people to be real, grow an authentic faith in Jesus, enjoy healthy relationships and discover their life purpose.