Trust the Process (Even When It's a Demolition Zone)

A bathroom remodel metaphor for revision

I got this crazy idea that it was time to fix up my kids’ bathroom.

We don’t have the budget for a full remodel–and if we did, our ensuite bathroom would be top priority–but their space is small enough I felt like I could tackle a few spruce up projects that wouldn’t cost a lot but would make it a more beautiful and enjoyable space.

Off to the box store I went this weekend for supplies: cabinet paint, peel and stick floor tiles to cover the tacky linoleum, wall paint, a new lighting fixture.

I came home and immediately got to work removing cabinet doors and towel racks from the wall, filling in nail holes and creating a clean slate. Then it came time to remove the quarter round moulding along the floor.

Instant panic.

The videos I’d watched made it seem easy. And I needed to get it out in one chunk to avoid the hassle of getting new when it was time to reinstall.

After some existential questioning, a lot of scoring layers of paint and caulking, and the help of a mini crowbar, I did manage to get it up.

Because that took longer than expected, I’m behind my self-imposed timeline.

The supplies are littering the hallway outside the bathroom and taunt me every time I pass it on my way to my own bedroom, waiting for me to get back to it.

I have hit that stage of overwhelm between the enthusiasm of starting and the far away promise of the finished product while questioning whether this was a good idea at all, but too far in to turn back now.

Revising a bathroom isn’t that different from revising a manuscript.

You start out eager to get started, ready to make your story shine. Immediately you run into something that requires a little extra work or knowledge. There may be a freak out moment. You start to drag your feet a little and procrastinate.

Before you know it, your manuscript is like my bathroom, half ripped apart, barely usable, and you’re wondering if you’re making it worse instead of better.

BUT…(sorry, it’s a bathroom metaphor, of course there’s a “but”!!!), like me and my bathroom, the vision I have for the finished project is keeping me in the game.

I can picture it done, how refreshed it will feel. How it will match my kids’ needs more now that they’re older and they require more hair product and fewer bath toys.

Similarly, when you’re revising, keep your eyes on the prize.

The finished book on the shelf, the signing you’ll have at your favorite book store, or the cookies with your book cover on it.

Can you see it?

For me to finish my bathroom, I just need to keep following the steps:

• Sand the cabinets.

• Prime the cabinets.

• Paint the cabinets and walls.

• Install the floor.

• Ask someone else in my house with more electrical knowledge (anyone) to help swap out the light fixture.

• Reattach the hardware.

• Install the towel hooks.

If I follow the steps, it will all get done.

I have to trust the process.

Same with your revision.

Process over perfection gets you to a finished draft every time.

I may mess up in the bathroom or something else may not go according to plan. I’ll need to assess and adjust as I go.

Just like your revision.

It won’t be perfect after the first pass–my bathroom or your manuscript–but if we keep going, keep learning what we don’t know, keep trying new things, keep focused on the vision we have, we’ll get there.

No buts about it!

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