Writing Is Like Sewing

I’ve been spending some time these last few days sewing on a new costume for myself. At first, I thought I had a deadline that it had to be wearable by Saturday, Oct 14. During the 2^nd day of working on it, my husband pointed out I didn’t need it until the middle of February. Whew! That was a big relief. Because, based on how much I was getting done each day, it was NOT going to be done by Oct 14. Not unless I started working on it every waking hour, and even then it would be iffy. Besides, concentrating on that and doing nothing else would lead to massive fatigue, lots of mistakes and TONS of frustration.

Today, I set the project away and worked on my husband’s costume, which needed some repairs. That he wants done by Oct 14, and I think I can get it done. If I don’t super-glue my fingers to it.

But I got to thinking about how much sewing is kind of like writing. Or vice versa.

The typical person who wants to sew a dress, for instance, starts with a pattern, a plan. Much like a person who puts together an outline to help them get from concept to a rough draft.

But I’m starting from scratch without a pattern. I know what I want it to look like, but I’m working on it much like I work on a story; by trying to figure out how the pieces go together as I go along. I don’t often sew by the seat of my pants, but I definitely write that way.

The first part of my story, er, costume, is to take strips of different materials and sew them together to make a striped body. Kind of like pulling together sentences and paragraphs to make a scene.

Once, I wasn’t paying much attention, and I sewed the seam on the wrong side. So I had to take time to rip that seam out and do it correctly. Rather as if I had written a scene that didn’t take the story where I wanted it to go, so I had to try again.

Later, I will have to decide where the neck and sleeves go and cut the striped material accordingly. Consider that the first couple passes of editing or re-writing: Cutting out words, paragraphs, even entire chapters that aren’t needed for the final product.

And finally, there’s all the hemming and doing the finishing touches of the costume. That, I figure, is like a final polish to a story.

Hey, don’t blame me if you think my muse has got a screw loose, comparing sewing and writing. Possibly she does (have a loose screw) but sewing and writing have both been on my mind this past week.

This Week

I've had a relatively calm, work-on-your-projects type of week. Mainly, I've been editing, formatting, writing, and working on a new website for a new marketing campaign. I like writing and editing; I think they're fun. Formatting is... okay. It's not the pits, but it's not exhilarating, either.

The worst has been the building a new website. While it came pretty much pre-built, with the anticipation I would personalize it to suit myself, even that much has not been easy. I've been at it about 4 weeks now, and I'm still not done.

It's built using WordPress. I do not know WordPress. I have watched all the 'help' videos that came as part of the support package, and I have reached the point where what I'm trying to do isn't covered by those videos. I can flounder around for hours trying to find the secret location to insert a button's link, or place to upload an e-book file. And still not find it.

Don't get me wrong, the support people have been wonderful. All I have to do is tell them that I can't get a picture in the position I want it, or a link takes me to the wrong place, and they will fix it for me. I feel stupid writing them 2 emails a day listing the things I've managed to flub up that day, but they fix it cheerfully. Unless it's a weekend. They don't work on weekends. I'm so jealous of that.

I thought I would at least be nearing the end of building this website by now, and it sounds like I am. All I have left is to input the links to 2 buttons and upload the ebook files for 6 books. Oh, but that's 5 formats for each of those 6 books. It could take me another month to get it all done. {No, it won't, I just did one book, and it wasn't that hard.}

And that's just for the books by John Shoberg. He has the most books published, so we're concentrating on getting the website up and running for his books. Later, we'll add books by Trudy Myers and Linda Joy. And then, of course, every time we publish a new book, we'll have to update the website.

It really is a never-ending job.

Oh, we did take a couple evenings to tear apart a Darth Vader costume. The pleather we had used to make the body suit had begun to seriously deteriorate, so we tore out the seams of the body suit to use the pieces as a pattern. This is the 3rd time we've rebuilt this costume, I think. We're going to use real leather this time, see if it lasts longer.