Preparation

I used to have a great fondness for painting the rooms of houses we'd bought, but I never really liked all the prep involved. However, being a perfectionist, and liking a job well done, once revealed, a good tip on how to improve the end result could not be ignored.

One day I forgot to take my anti-insanity pill and committed myself to paint every square inch of the basement we were having remodeled. I mean every square foot of sheetrock that had to be primed and painted, and every piece of trim that had to be primed, have nail holes filled, be sanded, and painted two coats.

Our contractor was a friend and long time colleague and knew all too well the tight budget we were on. His job manager very kindly gave me every painting tip he had, of which there were many, as that crew had to be versatile as well as proficient.

The best tip he gave me was to apply paintable calk to every joint between trim and wall, including the baseboards, using a caulking gun to fill the gap, then running my forefinger down the joint, applying just the right amount of pressure to create the slightest indentation with no remaining caulk on wall or trim, all before the caulking started to set up.

Every hour I wasn't working, I spent prepping the trim, walls, and ceilings, sanding, priming, caulking, filling nail holes, and repairing minor blemishes left by the sheet rockers, in preparation for getting out the brushes and rollers for actually applying the paint. Prep to paint time was about four to one. But I knew the end result would be well worth it.

I think you might suspect where I'm going with this. In its current iteration, this blog is about writing a novel. Yet truth be told, I've been doing very little actual writing of the novel. I mean crafting the words that will be on the finished page. That's because I've been doing my prep work.

Writing a novel really is like building a house or remodeling one. If the book is going to sell, the ratio of prep work to story telling may well turn out to be four to one. I won't know until the whole process is finished. What I find different about writing though, is that the prep work is really quite enjoyable. Not quite as much fun as writing dialogue or description maybe, but a different kind of fun.

And very rewarding because I know in the end it will be like walking into that freshly painted new space at my old house. Satisfaction in the knowledge of a job well done. And most likely, the beginning of an itch to get going on that kitchen remodel I've had in the back of my mind the whole time I've been painting.

More later.