Post-production is tough on a writer and on an actor, since their jobs are essentially complete (except for the occasional audio dub session). It’s where you need the most patience.
Buy your sound re-recorder a great bottle of scotch. Make sure your editor has fresh flowers. And worship your producer. Your post-production team are the ones who will make all the difference.
I remember sitting in a re-recording studio, watching Matt R. Sherman massage difficult audio, magically finding acceptable quality to rescue a performance. I saw foley shape S01E09 from a questionable episode to a favourite.
I sat in on the meeting where our director/editor, Julian Stamboulieh, made the case for cutting an entire scene from S01E10. He had to have the foresight to see that, despite it being shot and ostensibly complete, the scene didn’t belong.
I listened to our producer handle the bills that piled up, finding a way to get us the equipment and expertise to get LARPs: The Series done.
Pre-production took months. The shoot took two weeks. And post-production took an additional six months. It was all worth it. Plan on post being expensive; plan on it being time-consuming. Plan on stress and toying with burnout.
But when I saw each episode, in its final state, for the first time . . . despite my having seen each one hundreds of times before in various states of completion . . . that’s a moment I can never forget.
Work towards the end. Finish the job. Once you’ve done that, no matter what, you’ve won. Make sure you get to that point. Experience the finish line.
And you’ll only want to suffer through it all over again.