I like to sew. I’m not a designer, by any means, but between the designer’s pattern and my choice of fabric, options and fit, I can create something unique. Admittedly, the uniqueness can be unexpected, like the pair of shorts I made for my honeymoon that had the pockets sewn in backwards, but that’s another story. Patterns that fall within the same class of garment, such as patterns for dresses, pants, pillows and placemats, tend to have features in common.
Planning is important in sewing. A single pattern can have up to 15 different ways in which the pattern pieces must be laid out depending on the size I need, the length of the garment, and the width of my fabric. I learned the hard way to circle the correct layout and triple check that I have the pieces set correctly before cutting.
In some ways, writing for a specific genre resembles my sewing efforts. My genre of choice, crime fiction, has guidelines to meet, or it is no longer crime fiction. Subgenres are like options one can choose in a pattern, further setting the range I work within. My choices for a novel, such as location, setting, and characters, color my story the way my choices for notions, like buttons, zippers, thread, and embellishments, affect a garment.
Both writing and sewing require persistence. I can only finish my sewing project if I work on it until it is ready to wear. Cutting it out and finishing five steps out of twelve do not give me a finished project. The same with a writing project—if I stop when I’m stuck “in the muddle in the middle,” I’ll never finish.
That’s about where the analogy ends. I spend more creativity and effort as a writer than as a sewer. A successful manuscript requires more revisions and input from other people than a successful pair of shorts. Can you imagine the look on my neighbor’s face if I asked them if they would like an ARC of my latest shirtdress?
Which now leads me to the decision of the day—do I work on that set of aprons I have cut out, or turn to my writing to finish out my day?
What would you decide?
