How Building Shelves Resembles Writing

We were going to go hiking, but it rained…

The dark, dreary day made us decide to play a few rousing games of Ping-Pong.  Upon descending the basement stairs we glanced to where we remembered our Ping-Pong table was -- only to find a pile of boxes totally obscuring it from sight.  Ah yes, now I remembered, we piled those boxes there after our last major life event.  By that I mean the holidays, which we celebrated just a scant seven months ago. 
Which leads me to:  

• The best story ideas often spring unexpectedly from the chaos of life

So it was time to tackle a do-it-yourself project.  We had been saving some lovely wood boards from an old waterbed – I won’t tell you how long they had been down in the basement, but just admitting they were from a waterbed might give you a clue.  It was beautiful knotty pine wood and would be a shame not to use it for something, so now viewing the area, the thunder bolt hit ... I realized we could use more storage, so creating a set of shelves was to be the day’s project.  With no further ado, my husband and I leaped into action on our newly acquired project with high hopes, a twinge of apprehension and extremely focused energy! 
Which leads me to:  

• DIY projects, like writing, usually start with much enthusiasm but take much longer than expected to finish

 A little apprehension is normal when starting a writing project - jump right in and focus your energy
We had a basic concept of what we wanted and quickly agreed on the best way to use the boards and what size shelves we would create. With that decided, we started happily measuring (twice) and cutting (once), punctuated by numerous trips to the garage for tools – drills, screws, screwdrivers, saws, etc.  The tools kept accumulating.
Which leads me to:   

• Having tools readily accessible will help the process: like a thesaurus, character sketches and setting profiles.  Specialized writing software or a bulletin board can also be helpful, as is the ever-handy notebook.

 
Initial Success! We started by building the framework, which actually turned out   strong and evenly cut!! (we over built it to the point where we laughed at how it could be used as protection in the next tornado)  Now all we needed was the finishing touch – the actual shelves measured, cut and secured.  As we walked through the home improvement store, we realized that one thing we hadn’t considered was the standard shelving widths.  The less expensive board lengths were only 6”, 8” 10” widths – we needed 20” by 45”.   On the opposite wall where some quality boards in 19.75” by 48”.  Would they work? 
 Which leads me to:

• Writing the outline first can help avoid writing yourself into a corner.  On the other hand, problem solving sometimes has great outcomes, it might help you be more creative
• There is always something you think of later

 
We thought so…  I mean would a ¼” really matter?  After looking again at the structure and finding a small “L” bracket to hold the shelves in place, we decided to go with it.    After a bit of trimming, sanding and sweating, the shelves were finally in place and fit quite nicely.  Looking at our finished shelving unit with great pride and sense of accomplishment, we suddenly realized that the “Free Board to Shelves Project” we started a mere 11 hours ago ended up costing us approximately seventy dollars, as well as a few bumps and splinters in our hands.  But I’ve got to say nothing could compare to the pride in knowing we’d built such a beautiful knotty pine shelving unit all on our own!   
Which leads to:

• With a little help (and editing) then pieces of a story can fall into place
• Writing might not be financially rewarding, but you have a sense of accomplishment when the manuscript is competed.      

 
 Enjoy your next project!