If you’ve ever painted a room, you know that rolling on fresh paint is the dramatic part of the job – the part where you see the most progress for the least effort. I’m now in a point in writing Ellen, a novel, which is very much like rolling new paint on a properly prepped wall.
Just picking a color can be excruciating. It’s as if I’ve been looking at paint chips for years. I know I’ve considered several completely different ways of telling this story – just the way I’ve fretted over the color chart when considering new paint for a room.
Once, I picked what appeared to be a lovely pink for my study. Applied to the walls, 
the room resembled the interior of a bubblegum bubble. I repainted completely; the second time I choose a hue that appeared almost white on the sample, and which went on as a calming, pale rose. This was the room I wrote in for ten hectic years when I had three babies, two jobs, and a small farm. Getting the color right was arduous, but well worth the effort.
After choosing the color, the hard work begins: pushing the furniture to the center of the room, taking the artwork off the walls, unscrewing the switch plates, discovering an accumulation of dust and dirt as well as a few lost treasures (earrings, change, socks), and cleaning.
And there’s still more to do: I drape and mask what needs to be protected from being painted. This is just as important as knowing what to leave out of a story, which is often more difficult than knowing what to leave in.
Even applying the paint isn’t all slick and easy. I use an edger to separate the walls from the ceiling and trim. It’s tedious, but it keeps the edges neat – something like the justified margins of a published book, as well as the clear plot lines of the story.
But there’s no question: when all that prep work is done, the painting is fun. That’s where I am with Ellen right now: after almost two 
years of intense preparation, I’m rolling down sentences and seeing the clean color of the story emerge.
I know there’s lots more to do, just like applying that last lick of paint means I’m about halfway done with the job. I know that there will be revision, just as after the paint dries, there’s hardware to replace, furniture to polish, curtains to hang – as well as brushes to clean. The finish work can take a long time.
I’m not there yet. I’m in that delicious place where I’m spreading words on a page like paint on a wall. It’s going well, and I’m having fun.
photo: M. Shafer
Deborah Lee Luskin is a novelist, essayist and educator. Listen to a recent radio broadcast here, and learn more about her award-winning novel, Into the Wilderness here.
A GREAT analogy..!! “.. the interior of a bubblegum bubble.” I’m still giggling.
I can laugh about it now, but it was horrid at the time!
Thanks for reading and commenting. DLL
Let us know when you’re sick of arranging furniture and putting up curtains! That’s where I am now with my novel. But the painting was definitely fun. 🙂
Congratulations on getting to the next step. I’m loving this part! Good luck to you! And thanks for reading our blog! DLL
I love this perspective on writing, and it is especially poignant as I have just completed pressure washing and painting my backyard deck. Thanks.
Oy! Powerwashing and painting a section of the exterior is still on my to-do list; I’d much rather “roll out the words”!
Thanks for reading and commenting on our blog! DLL
Reblogged this on Dancing with Fireflies and commented:
Lovely words and very inspiring! What do you think?
Thanks for reading and supporting our blog! – DLL
Thanks for writing amazing stuff!
You have a lot of patience take two years to prepare. My prep is more like months and then constant course corrections.
Hey, everyone’s different! Truth be told, I’ve been thinking about this book since 1991 . . .For me, it’s an evolutionary process long before it’s an interior decorating one! And – I’m really happy to say – I’m no longer jealous of those who work faster. There’s infinite room in the universe for all our stories, no matter how quickly or slowly we write them.
Thanks so much for reading our blog and making a comment. All best – DLL
This is a great way of putting it! I’m an aspiring writer, so I really relate to this post.
It is like painting – and each has their own style and brush stroke. (Boy, do I love all those paint colored chips – all those color names – it’s just fascinating what they come up with)
congrats, you are in the home stretch )
I love the analogy to painting a room, I can definitely relate to both the pain and joy of that experience. Also, I do find picking what to leave out can be harder than what to leave it — it’s one of the struggles I’m having right now.
Reblogged this on elizabethacieri and commented:
Great way to think about a writing project. I love this.
I love this so much I reblogged it.