WiP Wednesday - Sept 8, 2010

First - where in the heck did summer go? Seriously? Heck, where is the year going? Why is it racing away so fast?

Second - spent the past weekend in Chicago eating, drinking, and walking way too much. Had a fantastic time with friends and family. Ate the best cinnamon roll ever, and some excellent deep dish pizza. Riding the train . . . oh, the inspiration to be found riding the "L" in Chicago. You outta try it some time. At one point, had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing out loud at the one conversation. Then, there was the woman with the - at least - six inch stilettos riding the train. You should have seen her try to stand up and maintain her balance. Oy!

Third - still plugging away at the two projects as I maintain distance from the project that I need to edit. Just a bit more time.

Speaking of distance . . .

I love Project Runway. Okay, not so much this season because it's become Big Brother Meets Project Runway. Not pretty, not pretty at all. Too much drama. I liked the show better when it was more about the designs then drama.

Anyhow, last week's episode reminded me that as writers, we are some times way too close to our work. We can't see the flaws because of the closeness . . . which is why we need distance between the different stages of the writing process from the beginning to the i'm ready to query.

Now, on Project Runway last week, five or so designers who didn't make it into the top three, were sitting back discussing the six designers that, together, were in the top and bottom three. There's one designer that they DESPISE. They are ripping this designer and his design to shreds. "Blah, blah, blah!" Now, at the same time, the judges are praising this designer. PRAISING! In fact, said designer is the winner.

Said Despised Designer comes back to the lounge area, announces his win, and nobody congratulates him. NOBODY!

Each of the designers in the room thought their design was the best design ev-uh! In fact, one of the designers said "I just don't know what the judges are thinking". Well, when she's in the top three, the judges are doing their job. When she isn't, the judges don't know what they're thinking.

UH-HUH!!!

So, this episode brought home to me, that distance is needed between ourselves and our work so that we can look at our work objectively. If there is not enough distance, if we do not create the necessary distance, than objectivity of our work doesn't exist.

Now, back to Project Runway and the petty designers that cannot congratulate someone on a win. I'm sorry, but even if I despise a person, don't admire them, or whatever, if said person does an excellent job, I'm going to congratulate said person. I don't like one of the designer's on the show - her attitude sucks, she's arrogant and manipulative - but she makes good clothes. I admit, she makes good clothes. I might not like her as a person, but, as a designer . . . she's good.

On that note . . .

S