Renovating a house is a lot like writing 
Except for breathing in dust, frequent trips to the building supply centre, and the occasional self-inflicted whacks with a hammer …
Seriously, though, my wife and I have been doing some work around our home and I’ve seen a number of parallels between the renovation process and the writing process. Intrigued? Then read on.
Start with a plan
Without some sort of plan — even just a rough diagram — you’re not going to get very far with a renovation project. The same goes for writing. An outline is essential, even if it’s just a list of the major points that you want to cover in the piece that you’re writing.
I’ve written about using an outline in this space before, so I won’t belabour the point. Just remember that your outline is your guide. Feel free to deviate from it, but always use it.
Tear it down, but don’t be afraid to build around it
In the latest round of renovations, my wife and I have been doing some small-scale demolition — a portion of a wall here, chunks of a floor there. Mostly ripping out lath and plaster, removing a sink, and replacing a few old floor boards. But what we’ve been ripping out we’ve either been replacing or modifying.
When you have a first draft of an article or story, it’s probably not quite what you’re hoping that it will be. Don’t be afraid to rip out chunks of the piece. In many cases, though, what you rip out leaves a bit of a hole. In that case, add some new (and I’d hope better) words to replace the ones that you removed. Place newer sentences and paragraphs around the parts that have been gutted. You might wind up with a piece that’s longer or shorter than the original, but if you do the job correctly the new version will be better.
See what you can salvage
Not everything that you rip out during a renovation will be destined for the salvage bin (or wherever you dump your waste). Some of it you can reuse — for example, we managed to salvage some chunks of 2×4 and a couple of shelves that were duly reused elsewhere.
Sometimes, what you edit out of your writing can be used elsewhere in the piece you’re working on or in another article or story that you’re writing. I’ve found it useful to keep separate files of these snippets, and go back to them as needed. This isn’t always the case, though. More often than not, you wind up with a bunch of snippets that you’ll never use. Regardless, trying to do some salvage can be worth the effort. It’s often less work than rewriting.
Be sensible
Try not to stray too far from your plan. Don’t start putting in a shelf, then decide to get ambitious and build an enclosed cupboard instead. That can take a lot of time and effort, and might not turn out the way in which you intended.
When writing, you’re probably on a deadline. Trying to create a magnum opus or just tweaking a piece to make it perfect within your time constraints definitely won’t work. Stay within the bounds of your outline. If you want to expand the piece, do it later. You might discover that the article or story won’t really work at a greater length.
Photo from http://www.sxc.hu
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