Bricking it!

It just dawned on me I never wrote anything for the blog last month as between the 'wheezle' and the chest, time got away with me. In saying that, we managed to take a road-trip to Aviemore and get some good Highland fresh air, which perhaps explains why I can breathe a bit better. Nothing like a load of greenery and open space to fill the lungs out.

Anyway, on one of my walks it got me to thinking how much time as writers we spend 'Bricking it'. We start off with an idea, the idea becomes an outline in our head and then, if you're not a 'pantser' like me, on paper. That idea then gets scribbled down as a vomit draft and added to brick by brick as it goes from a rough premise, into a first draft, a cemented edited draft and ongoing draft... No writer I ever met has a project they class as completely finished that they wouldn't like to nip and tuck somewhere.

We use character and creativity as blocks to push an idea forward and join them to structure to build on what we've got. We tidy it up with added nuance so our words mean more rather than having loads of exposition. We use visuals to do the old 'show don't tell'. Rather than a character say 'Oh, Old Wilson was in bed with a wheezle'. (NB: Not a weasel which would be a completely different tale.) You'd have an action of some old lumper, snuggling under a duvet, feeling sorry for itself and making noises like Darth Vadar when he's heaving himself out of a cold bath... in winter... in Iceland. (You can imagine that as the country, or the shop. Even Vadar needs sustenance and economy! After all, those Death Star's cost a fortune.)

To the other scale, as writers we 'Brick it' in the other sense every day. Every time I send a script, or piece of writing off, I have that uncanny feeling that it's going to come back and I'll have a 'Reject' stamp in the centre of my forehead for the next week. It's lovely when something is accepted but the flip side is we have to stomach rejection with it. I can safely say I've had about a hundred rejections over the past six/seven years since I began writing. They sting but at the end of the day, some come with criticism that bring my writing on. Most of the time, it gives me a thicker skin, unless I've PMT, ironing or 'wheezles' (NB: Not the small furry types) in which case I may mooch around more than usual.

One thing is for sure, in life, as in writing, our attitude is one of the first bricks we have to use as a foundation. Brick one has to be vision. Brick two has to be faith in that vision. Once you have the first bricks, the rest follow. If the structure is a bit weak and it has to be rejigged to improve it, then those first two bricks will still have to be there and stand strong to support you.

So, the next time you 'Brick It' remember vision and faith like the Dad who named his kids.

Rose says to her Dad, 'Dad why did you call me Rose?' and Dad says 'When you were born, a Rose petal fell from the vase beside you. Then Leaf asks 'Dad why did you call me Leaf?' and he says 'A Leaf fell on my head as I was going into maternity to see you.' Then Nee-naw asks 'Dad why did you call me Brick?'

Have a good one! Eileen :0)