4 Lessons Building Legos Taught Me About Writing
Though this winter was otherwise mild in the Washington, DC area, we did get a historic blizzard. Our area got 39 inches — yes, three feet, three inches — which kept us indoors for a week. Needless to say, my seven year old did not have school. (also known as “No, you will not write so much as a sentence, Mommy! No productivity for you!”).
Thankfully, Santa as well as wonderful family members and friends brought tons of Legos for Christmas. My son and I spent his snow days building with the tiny little bricks (aka manicure ruiners and impromptu burglar device — you ever stepped on one? Yeouch!)
While building my 87-step tow truck, I reflected on what building Legos can teach you about writing and came up with these four lessons.
1) Reality won’t match the picture in your head. The picture on the front of the box looks perfect. Just like the mental picture of your beautiful story with the clever dialogue and gorgeous metaphors. And then, in reality, you put the sticker on crooked (or backwards) and it never comes out just like the photo on the box. That’s okay. It’s still a beautiful Lego tow truck or a novel. Whichever.
2) It will take much longer than you expect. I hoped that I could finish our Lego car carrier in something less than a lunar month. Maybe not. We’ll see if I get it done by June. Just like a novel, it takes way longer than you thought it would to put together hundreds of Lego pieces into something resembling the intended creation. That’s ok. Take however much time you need.
3) You’ll always have extra pieces. I think Lego puts extras in there just so you’re never entirely sure that you followed the directions properly. No matter what happens, there are going to be pieces of the story — scenes, dialogue, description, the entire third act — that you don’t need for the final version. Keep them in a handy-dandy Ziploc or writing folder. You might need them for that next project — Lego or otherwise.
4) Push past the give-up point. There’s a point in every project where you’d like to toss it across the room. For Lego, this usually happened around step twenty. For writing, it’s usually just past the mid-point where I decide hate the story, every character in it is too stupid to live, I must have been drunk when I came up with the idea and I should never again scribble notes in the middle of the night. At that moment, maybe take a short break, grab a juice box, and just breathe for a bit. Then, keep going. You’ll never build that thousand-piece castle if you quit. Same for your novel.
Now that the snow has finally melted and we’re beginning to see signs of spring, it’s time to get back to writing mine.
Courtney Hunt is the author of the Cupid’s Coffeeshop series, the Always a Bridesmaid series, and Kindle Scout winner The Lost Art of Second Chances. She’s a recovering attorney and lives with her husband and son outside of Washington, DC. Visit her at her website at www.courtney-hunt.com to sign up for her newsletter or connect with her on Twitter at @courtneyhunt71.
