Writing and Painted Walls

My first task when we began this move was painting the walls. First my wife wiped them down to remove any dust or grim and I applied a fresh coat of primer. The next day, once I knew the primer was dry, out came the paint. After about two hours the four walls had a new color to show off to anyone lucky enough to walk in. I stepped back and enjoyed the view and my accomplishment. With that room completed I moved on to the next and after a hard day of painting long into the night I eventually retired to my bed for rest.

The next morning I woke up excited to see the rooms with the new paint. I wanted to see exactly what they looked like as the sunlight hit those walls. Walking into each one of those six rooms was a joy as the colors all flowed so nicely with each other yet gave each room its own personality. But this perception changed as I moved in for a closer look. The closer I got to the walls the more I noticed the flaws. Slightly missed spots here a few specks of primer showing through there. Even though I was tired of painting I grabbed my roller and got to it until the job was done. Some rooms took another three coats to get everything covered and looking even while other rooms only needed a touch up here or there.

What does this have to do with writing? Actually I thought the same thing after I told myself "this is just like writing." Like that old, plain, white wall your paper or computer screen is blank and devoid of life or a personality. When you begin writing your idea for a story it is the same as picking a color and painting that wall. As we progress through and complete the story we stand back and admire our work for a moment just as when we are done painting we stand in the middle of the room and soak up those four walls. After that moment has passed though we take a closer look don't we? We start to dig into that manuscript finding the errors or open ideas. Like those specks found on the wall these items we find in our manuscript almost pop out at us so we grab our pen or the keyboard and like the paint roller we go through fixing those problems.

What's the point in all of this? We as writers will never be satisfied with our work because it is our work and we will see every flaw at some point in time. We must learn when to say a novel is finished so we can move on to the next. Maybe your manuscript will need seven revisions but maybe it only needs three. At some point in time we should ask "am I making these changes because they will improve the story or because I want to?"

The other point is to not get caught up in the small things so much that you miss the big picture. When that room was painted with that first coat and I saw the look of it I knew we had the right color so making those little touch ups or applying that second coat was not all that bad. I knew what the end result would be. That is important in my opinion because it keeps us motivated.

Lastly, even though I knew where the flaws were when my wife and other visitors walked into those rooms all they talked about was the color and the overall look of that particular room. They did not scrutinize it or inspect every corner but absorbed the entire area.

We strive for perfection but we must always remember that we don't necessarily need perfection to achieve our goal. We are the painters, the publishers and agents are master painters and the readers enjoy the painting. This is why it is so tough for new writers to break into the business because the master painters catch 98% of the flaws or just don't like the color.

Write with your heart and passion. Edit and revise with your mind and knowledge. Understand when to call a manuscript done and most of all stand back and admire your hard work.