Woodworking – The Latent Man

Project Update: Not building a clock

My daughter will break into song and dance quicker than the lead in a Rodgers and Hammerstein production. One of her favorite songs is, I got the Joy Joy Joy Joy. She belts out the lyrics and jumps around with her arms flapping like a seagull taking flight. I can’t help but smile and eventually join in. I won’t be sharing that on here so don’t worry. I will be sharing my woodworking which brings me joy. So without further ado here is a long-awaited project update.

Woodworking:

I’m building this project because I actually need one. We only had one nightstand in our bedroom, and being the good husband I believe I am, I let her use it. I had been using a small end table for my nightstand, like the ones that can hold one vase of flowers and not much else. Then I realized most nightstands are made from wood and then it hit me like a 2×4 and I began to work.

This is the first time I’ve ever made a drawer and it turned out pretty well. The legs aren’t 100% square so sanding is still necessary to get everything to fit just right but as the saying goes, “I’m not building a clock.” I don’t have the project quite finished, but I’ll share the final results when I do.

Hamper Tower:

This sawdust project was requested by my wife after she saw it on Pinterest. I did some searching and found a simple design that I liked. I made the top look like a picnic table with wood slats but I may make it one solid piece before I stain it. I also may add casters to make it more mobile.

Not too long after I took these pictures my family and I sold our house and moved. My woodworking has been relegated to our small shed in the backyard so the garage can be used for parking cars or some kind of nonsense. I will share the photos of the new shop and try to make it all work in a cramped space. Find what brings you joy. Whether it’s woodworking, writing, or dancing like a chicken in the middle of a Waffle House on a cold winter night with your daughter. Do those things. You aren’t promised tomorrow and sometimes your joy brings joy to others. Until next time, keep developing yourself, and Happy New Year.

Tai-po

The masterful art of refusing to acknowledge a mistake.

On any given weeknight at our kitchen table, It’s possible to hear my 7-year-old son groan in frustration. “The answer is 10.” He’d say, “Why won’t you let me keep going?” He’ll avert his eyes from the math problem, and slide the homework paper, smeared with eraser marks, away from him. It’s then I’ll take a deep breath to subdue my own frustrations before methodically drawing pips on scratch paper, showing that if you have 6 pips and add 3, the answer is 9. But with the evidence of his error scribbled in graphite, he still struggles to admit his answer is wrong.
Why, when presented with clear evidence of a mistake would he continue to stick with the wrong answer? He is learning the art of Tai-Po (Typo) and to my horror, I am unwittingly his teacher, his Mr. Miyagi.

This summer I built a planter box. I figured it would be good practice and I was wanting to build something I could use. During the process, I made a slight error in one of my cuts. I eyed it for a few minutes, mulling over the idea of having to cut an entirely new piece, which would have only taken a minute or two. Instead, I decided to ignore the mistake and the simple fix. Does this line of reasoning resemble my son and the math problem? The answer is a resounding, yes.

As I continued to construct the planter, I realized the mismeasured piece was throwing everything off to greater degrees. By the time I finished, I had one corner that was out of alignment, and as I stood back to look, the mistake was pretty obvious. Like when you get done with a Lego build and flip back through the yellow instruction booklet to discover the extra piece in your hand was supposed to have been added five pages ago.

If it were anyone else I would have advised them to retrace their steps and undo everything until they got to the initial problem. Everything then would be “square” and line up. If I had done that, I wouldn’t be writing this post. Rather, I began my Tai-Po gyrations, reeling, rolling, and pirouetting to avoid the mistake. I took my orbital sander, hand planer, and wood glue, and went to work. By God, I was going to make this work on my terms!

I should have just gone back and taken the time to fix the issue instead of trying to figure out how to make things right without fixing the problem.

The odd thing about Tai-Po is sometimes you don’t realize you are practicing it. In fact, you can be a master at it and have no clue, and just like you can’t really unlearn how to ride a bike, it’s even harder to unlearn Tai-Po.

For the past month or so I’ve been trying to finish the most recent chapter in my book. I haven’t been thrilled with how It started and I drifted from the plot line, careening my story off into the ether. I told myself I’d fix it in editing and usually, this works but not this time. As I continued to write I kept getting the nagging feeling that something was wrong but in grandmaster Tai-Po form, I ignored it and kept writing. It finally left me with writer’s block and frustrated. I went back and re-read the beginning of the chapter and saw the problem. I had to change a supporting character’s personality and how he engaged with the protagonist, but to do that meant changing almost three pages of dialogue. I didn’t want to. I could make it work by forging ahead, couldn’t I? Just like the wood planter and the math problem. Ignore the problem, and forge ahead. It will turn out okay, right? Maybe, and maybe not. At the root of it all, I was afraid. I was afraid that I had done the best I could. I had done the best I could with the planter box and I had done the best I could in my writing and if I changed it, I’d never get it back.

“It is okay to lose to opponent.

It is never okay to lose to fear. “

-Mr. Miyagi

I took a deep breath and deleted a large swath of writing. As I began to rewrite the chapter I felt better and my fear vanished as I realized, I could do better. Things were lining up and becoming “square”.

What mistakes have you ignored and what was the outcome? Did it smooth itself out or like a splinter, did it fester? Is it still festering? Some of the most powerful words anyone can say is, “I was wrong.” Own it. Correct it if you can, and learn from it.

God bless. Keep up the good work and keep developing yourself.

Project Updates

Pslams 20:4

May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.

Procrastination hates updates. How many of us waited till the night before to start that book report, or prepare the PowerPoint presentation for work? I had a supervisor that wanted weekly updates on the status of a project. I hated having to prepare notes and show our progress but, I never forgot about the project, at least not for very long. I know me, and I know I am easily… Squirrel! …..sorry, I am easily distracted. So, here is my project update. Eat your heart out procrastination (such a disturbing declaration.)

40K

No, I’m not referring to Leagues Under the Sea or the cost of a used car nowadays, or even the tabletop dice game. Though writing sometimes makes you feel as if you are stuck in the middle of the grim darkness. (Nod to all the War Hammer enthusiasts out there.)

I have reached the 40,000-word count for my novel. I’ve seen it on the internet (so it must be true) that 40,000 words are the bare minimum to call your story a novel. So, today I revel in my achievement. It’s taken me a long while to get here and I’m excited. If I had to guess, I’d say I’m halfway finished. I have my plot well figured out and I’m trying to get my two protagonists over to Norway to finally meet the antagonist, the man behind the curtain pulling the levers. I have written 12 chapters though chapter 11 is huge and will most likely be split up.

I’m dotting the entire story with Christian concepts. I want them to be apparent without slapping 3:16 on each page and adding a verse concordance in the back. There is murder, gunplay, alcohol, and even…wait for it…lying. How can I even consider writing such dross? These things and much much worse happen every day. I deal with the depravity of the human mind and spirit on a daily basis and it just reinforces my daily need for Christ which is what I want my characters to realize sooner or later in their adventures too.

I am not ready to share my work but when I am, I will share snippets in my posts, ask for feedback and eventually seek alpha and beta readers too.

Along the way, I’ve learned different styles of writing and the habits of successful and unsuccessful authors. I’ve learned that I am a Pantster, a quirky nickname for writers who do little to no planning, writing only by the seat of their pants.

I’ve learned I like ‘Purple Prose’. My descriptions are very ornate and embellished. In some instances, this is good, in my opinion, when it comes to describing a dead body, a crime scene, or the beautiful woman driving a classic Mustang. Where it hurts my writing is when I am building an up-tempo scene, the descriptions can bog down the pace. I will chisel away at these knots when I hit my first edit.

Overall I am pleased with how it’s coming. I have to allow myself some grace through the entire process. I am not a full-time author so writing 3000 words a day is not pragmatic for me. If you have noticed, I do good to post once a month on here. So, though I do get down in the mouth about my lack of writing, I am still moving forward. My goal is to write something every day. Even if it’s just a paragraph and so far I’ve been hitting that goal most weeks.

Woodworking

I am a wood dabbler. The thing is, the more I dabble the more excited I get. I nearly danced in the garage after I made my first slot cut with my router. What is wrong with me? I don’t know but I’m forging ahead. Did you know a 2×4 isn’t really 2″ by 4″? It’s really 3 1/2″ by 1 1/2 “. What?! False advertising! No problem, I ripped two, what Matt Outlaw calls, “tubafours” by half an inch and joined them creating a 3″x3″ board for my table leg. I just need to do that three more times. Yep, I used math.

I actually need to give a big shout-out to Matt Outlaw at 731 Woodworks. I have found so much inspiration from his videos and his story. A former state trooper turned YouTuber, woodworker, and a brother in Christ. Besides his down-to-earth instructional videos, I draw encouragement as he does not hide his mistakes. So when I witness in horror as my saw blade digs out a splintering chunk of wood, I don’t fret. I tell perfectionism to keep his seat and I figure it out and move on.

I linked Matt’s YouTube video where he shows his beginnings. If his first workbench was a red and green tub, then I don’t feel so bad about my dishwasher box workbench.

Thank you for sticking with me. I hope you find inspiration or insight here. If you do, please share http://www.thelatentman.com with others. If you need some encouragement, I’ve added Fires by Jordan St. Cyr below. Thank you for reading and until next time, keep developing yourself.

Creation Crime Scene

Creation Crime Scene

A murderer lives in my head. He has been there, dare I say, most my life and from his vantage point, he can see nearly everything. His name is Perfectionism and he spends most of his days stalking Creativity. He is patient, deliberate, and cunning. He waits to pounce on a poorly written sentence, a stray cut, or an errant brush stroke. Perfectionism jumps from his perch with eager malice slashing at Creativity till it is nothing more than tattered thoughts on the floor while leaving you, the creator wallowing in self-doubt.

I have become more aware of perfectionism the further I plod ahead with writing my novel. When I first began typing, perfectionism started a simple conversation, and it went something like this:

“What ya doing?”

“Writing a story.”

“That’s cute, what’s it about?

“Espionage/thriller kinda thing. I’m still working out the details.”

“Oh.”

“What do you mean, oh?”

“Well, if you don’t know 100% what you are writing, how do you expect it to be any good?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Look, your first paragraph already has some issues. Leave the writing to the professionals and go do something you’re good at.”

Death by a thousand comments. I had barely started and I was already doubting. I’m a good way through my first draft now but Perfectionism doesn’t give up and to give him credit, he is very convincing.

Even while writing this post, perfectionism has pulled up a chair and is looking over my shoulder spouting off his opinion.

“Taking a break from your novel I see. Probably for the best, the transition in chapter 11 is brutal, and if you don’t nail it, the rest of the book won’t fall into line.” The truth is, it doesn’t have to be perfect, and to be honest, it probably never will be. True perfection is an unattainable goal and not just for you, but for everyone on this Earth. So, if it’s something none of us can obtain why do we give power to perfectionism when he tells us, “It’s all or nothing?”

I’m trying something new, and that statement alone rouses perfectionism. My father had an old wooden chessboard where he taught me to play the game. I hope to teach my son and daughter to play on it as well. It has sat in a closet for years. I want to inlay that chessboard into a tabletop. I’ve never worked with wood like this before. So in preparation, I’ve scrounged around collecting the needed tools, bought the materials, and watched a lot of YouTube.

I haven’t made the first cut yet but I know as soon as I grab my saw, perfectionism will speak up. The thing is, I may mess up but I’m going to have fun trying. I’m even going to let my son help, and since I’m a nice guy, I’m going to share the process with you too. If you happen to know anything about woodworking I’m open to advice.

As for my writing, some of the best advice I received was from successful published authors who instructed me to, write my first draft all the way through. Don’t stop, just finish. It’s not going to be perfect, that’s what the 2nd, then 3rd, and the 4th drafts are for. I am going to strive to make my novel as perfect as I can, but It’s not going to happen the first time around.

As best-selling author John Acuff said, “Perfectionism is creativity tied to fear instead of hope.” If you want to take a deep dive into Perfectionism and the role it plays when trying to achieve your goals, I highly recommend picking up Acuff’s book, Finish, and following his podcasts. https://acuff.me/

What did Perfectionism tell you when you dared to take the first step toward a goal? Did it attack you, or did it look subtly over your shoulder?