Nine is the number of completion. So, to align with the energy of today, the magical 9-9-09, here are nine tips for completing a creative project, composed with the aid of the magical Beth Lapides.

You can work on finishing any project with both of us in our The Comedian's Way workshop (upcoming classes Sept. 13, 20, 27 in Hollywood). A lot of very concrete work has come out of the workshop, including books, scripts, one-person shows.

If you aren't in LA, or want to work privately over phone and e-mail, talk to me about my consulting services. I have helped people finish articles, scripts, pitches, essays, books and book proposals.

1. Pick the right project - If the project isn't the right one for you right now, you're never going to get there. You may feel like you've already put so much energy into it that you may as well keep going, but if you're heart isn't in it (anymore), or it isn't the right project for you, the world and the marketplace right now...

Me! Pick me! What about me?! And me! You can't leave me out! But you can't include everything. Your book/essay/show/standup comedy set can't go on forever.

There are so many things to write/talk about, so many stories, and so many beats in each story, that sometimes it's hard to decide which to pick.

Here are 9 great reasons to choose a piece of material:

1) IT'S FUNNY - That's enough of a reason, especially if you're working in a comedy format. Funniness is less important when you're going for tragedy.

2) IT'S TIMELY - Something that just happened has an urgency and energy when you try to communicate it, whether it's something in your personal life or in the world. If you're performing live, especially with stand-up comedy, a major story from the news of the week will be on everyone's mind and something big like Michael Jackson dying is almost a required topic. The audience wants to know your take on it.

"The Practical Writer" ed. by Therese Eiben & Mary Gannon with the staff of Poets & Writers Magazine is a couple of years old but still has some great relevant advice, especially "Loose Bottoms" (about editing your work - best advice: you can probably cut your first and last lines), "How to Land an Agent" (a specific plan for finding an agent for your work) and "How to Read Rejection" (about decoding responses to your work).

Also fun stuff about titling and getting into glossies or small literary journals. As with any anthology, some articles are better (and more useful) than others, but this one will give you a lot of helpful perspective and some concrete tools.

Editing is really hard - whether you're cutting, re-cutting, re-writing or just trimming. Here's some advice from the pros:

Comedian and author Moon Zappa talks about when to edit. Watch video.

Paul Doucette, drummer of Matchbox 20, has advice on what to do with your 'outs' after you've edited them - whether its music or words. Watch video.

Michael Patrick King, writer/director/executive producer of Sex and the City, tells you how to avoid including things that you'll have to cut later, and encourages you to write before you edit. Plus Beth's 'Couture/Read-to-Wear Theory" of editing. Watch video.

And here's two cents from comedy icon Buck Henry, who has appeared on the Daily Show and Saturday Night Live, co-created Get Smart, and wrote several movies including a little film you may have heard of called The Graduate. Watch video.

Having a hard time writing? Do you feel stopped by writers block or overwhelmed by too many different ideas? Sometimes a different angle on, or a different way in, to the material can help your creative output. We have identified at least 6 different ways of writing. I'm not talking about different forms or genres, but different ways of actually generating creative material.

If one approach isn't productive, try another. Different methods are more effective on different days and in different phases of the project. And some projects may require that you use all of them.

What are the 6 ways of writing? Listen to this excerpt from one of Beth's inspirational raps at the Un-Cab Lab Writing & Performance Workshop:

You have a draft! Woohoo! Maybe you don't hate it. Maybe, even worse, you kind of like it. Because now the problem is: IT'S TOO LONG.

I know. It's painful to cut. You gave birth to your babies and nurtured them. But sometimes some of them have to be sacrificed for the greater good. Some of them have to go or the whole project can't become airborne. Remember, it's not an encyclopedia (unless you are writing an encyclopedia, then disregard this blog.)

In the commentary of Aliens (in this bloggers opinion the release version is one of the best movies ever made), James Cameron tells how they had to lose 20 minutes from his directors cut or the studio couldn't release it.