Let us watch today’s video as a metaphor for writing a book.
Piece by piece.
Nail by nail.
And you have to know what you are doing, or it all collapses.
This is why you get annoyed when people say to you, “I’m going to write a book someday,” as if it were easy.
Note something about the video. Your foundation has to be absolutely correct because everything depends on it.
What other things did you notice?
Cover Letter Catastrophe: Mistakes That Miss Opportunities
Talkin’ Tolkien today.
How many good trees lost their lives
for Robbins and Susann?
How many bees, deprived of hives,
could not fulfill their ordained plan?
Surely the Ents shake with rage
at this obscene atrocity,
ripped right from Saruman’s page
for love of power and yes, money?
They will rise and they will walk,
and they will breach the walls and dam,
and there’s no smooth wizard-talk,
no falsely wise palantir-plan
that will stand against tree-herders’ wrath,
and thus, our fitting epitaph.
It took a long time. He followed a logical method for each step. The finishing touches that made the cabin shine took extra effort. Yep, sounds like writing a book.
Labor intensive. Clear next actionable steps. Follow through. Yes, just like writing a book!
This reminds me it’s ok where I am, even when I can’t see much progress, and to keep moving forward. I often compare this to a ship on the sea. It’s moving forward, but it doesn’t appear that way until you see land. Thanks, Steve.
My favorite part was when he didn’t have a ladder at a point when he needed it, so he just made one!
This was not his first rodeo, and it would seem he worked using lessons passed on from others. Charring the wood used for the roof wrapped it in carbon and made it water-resistant. Somebody taught him that. Years ago, we had a small farm in Southern Illinois with a very old fence. Some of the posts were rotted off at the ground level. I dug up the old post stumps to reuse the same holes, and to my surprise, found the in-ground stumps solid and hard as a rock…but they were burned! An old farmer in the area explained that before the days of creosote, farmers would cut and split oak posts, get the ends burning in a fire, and quench them in water. This changed the natural tannins in the oak to a preservative that was water and insect resistant. I was also impressed with how sharp his tools were.
Meticulous attention to all necessary details, including treating the roof material, adding battens to prevent leaks and rot, and filling in all crevices in the walls. The cabin was protected from the elements and from the damp earth.
Also, there was no wasted space within the cabin.
Lastly, it was extremely sturdy, from the ground up.
Writing a novel is like building a log cabin. “You have to know what you are doing, or it all collapses.” Yes! Plus, writers must add their own imagination and creativity to the project.
Wow, very inspiring.
Perfect analogy to writing a book. Thanks.
I once helped build a cabin just like this in Alaska. Then my husband and I built our own – an eight-sided log house, in the Yukon. Number one lesson: learn from those who’ve done it before and remember, it can’t be done in a day. It takes patience and learned skills. A few years ago, we went back to see if the cabin was still there. It is, still keeping its new owners warm in winter and cool in summer. 🙂
Very impressive but, sigh, my idea of roughing it is the Hilton Garden Inn…….
This is a great metaphor for writing a book except for one thing: he did it alone. Any successful writer (however you define that) knows that it takes the help of many other people to reach the finish line–from brainstormers to beta readers to editors and proofreaders to agents to publishers and more editors to author friends who help with marketing and so on!
The builder (writer) worked on the outline first, then filled in the insides with the things that worked with it. I also noticed he put together parts to fit then ‘edited the ends and bits’ leaving part to help him reach the high points! He prepared the roof, or the cover separately before adding it as well!
Absolutely fascinating. And very true. We need to lay everything out just right for the story to work.
I’ve never seen a log cabin built from scratch before. What a fantastic job. And not just a metaphor for writing a book, but it would be a true reading or writing getaway. I want one!
I agree with Marie. Had intended to say that was my takeaway. Before, during, and after our book is done, a near-army is involved.
And let’s plant more trees for the next guy.
I appreciated watching the building process of this craftsman creating his dream cabin. I wish he had included the step of hand-peeling a log with a DrawKnife.
He had an outline (plan)
He used various materials (genre)
Some pieces were cut away (edited) that did not fit.
Important, various tools pounding out that dream (learning the writing craft, computer and publishing processing)
Skills -and enjoying the process– i.e., learning the writing craft and computer and publishing processes
Useful, practical, planting seeds for later use (applicable wisdom for self and sharing — (contemporary context)
Reproducible with time and commitment. (tenacity, keeping the goal in mind)
Opps, I forgot to say, check your work – I doubled up!
various tools should be dictionaries, research, interviews, taking care of the builder (you, the writer) in the process.
BTW: Thinning trees often helps others to grow straighter and the branches to grow outward. They fill in the spaces and planting new ones are not always needed for growth.