I learned what few carpentry skills I have by observation.
I literally stopped by a construction site (several as a matter of fact) and watched as a house was built from the ground up.
Foundation . . . framing . . . electrical and plumbing . . . walls and roof . . . finish work . . . finished product.
That’s how it’s done in construction. You don’t begin with the finish work. You don’t put a roof on without framing. You don’t frame without a strong foundation. You follow the order as it is listed above, and when you are done you have a solid building which will stand for years.
And that, too, is how it is done in the Arts!
A story with a similar message . . .
When I was about ten, I saw an advertisement for a Willie Mays baseball glove. It was made of the finest leather, great product I’m sure, and the ad promised that you could play like Willie Mays with that glove. So I waited for my dad to come home from work, and I told him I absolutely had to have a Willie Mays glove because it was going to make me a great baseball player.
No, Dad said, it’s not the glove that makes a great baseball player . . . it’s the player’s dedication and hard-work, plus some God-given talent. The glove has nothing at all to do with it, he said. Learn to play the game properly, practice hard, and then keep practicing. If you do that, he said, it won’t make any difference what glove you have on your hand. He told me when he was a kid, some pro ballplayers were barnstorming through the Midwest during the Great Depression, and several of them didn’t even have gloves, and they fielded balls like the pros they were.
Here’s the point . . .
Well, I have faith that you are smart enough to figure out the point.
Right?
Anyone remember an animated short movie by Harry Nielsen called “The Point” from mid-Eighties?
Anyway, have a great week!
Bill
“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”
Billybuc
Artistry With Words 