Crocheting is Like Writing

I got super frustrated with work the other day, so I stopped working.

The problem is that I work hard all day and don’t see results. (I have no client work at the moment, so it’s all marketing.)

I’m sure there are people who read what I post, but without tangible results, I am disappointed.

Without tangible results, we often feel like giving up. That day, I did exactly that.

I shut my computer down, went out to my living room, and started crocheting.

If you know anything about crochet, you know you start with a foundation chain. Just chaining made me feel better.

It brought me a lot of pleasure to have results I could see and touch.

This event propelled me to think about writing being similar to crocheting and how satisfying seeing progress is and feeling it is even more satisfying.

When you start every crocheting project, you begin with a foundation chain.

Foundation chain

About 160 chain stitches

When you begin a writing project, you start with the foundation of a good story, be that a plot outline or worldbuilding. You need something to anchor your creativity, and a solid foundation supplies you with that.

Once you have the foundation chain in place, you can crochet any pattern you want—one stich at a time.

Adding a stitch is like adding one word. A row is like a paragraph.

Each helps the project further along in its creation. The more you add, the closer you get to the finish line.

You can go wild with whatever you add to the foundation.

For this project, I’m using alternating single and double stitches.

Added a row of double stiches

(For my first blanket, I chose a chevron pattern. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of it. ☹)

You can do whatever you want with your book. Simple sentences, complex sentences. Humorous, romance, fantasy, mystery. Dialogue, exposition, action.

Just keep going.

I’m using two colors for this blanket, changing over at the ends to create bands of color.

Switching colors is messy

It’s tricky, it’s ugly, but it’s how you have to do it. Just like your novel can be at times, but when you weave those ugly pieces in, it turns out beautiful.

Seamlessly woven in colors

You could think of this as a dual-perspective novel, with gray being the MC and red being the secondary MC!

Since it brought me satisfaction to see and feel the blanket coming together, I thought it might be a good idea to print out your work in progress.

Each day, print out your new content.

Add each new page to your stack and see how that stack grows. You can hold your book in your hands all the way through the process. It’s a tangible result, and it could bring you great pleasure to see and feel your progress.

When you are done, you will have an entire book by adding one word at a time.

Just like I created this blanket—one stitch at a time.

Finished blanket for my niece. (2nd one I ever made!)

(I know it’s not the same blanket, but I’m still working on the other one. 😊)

Thanks for reading!

Until next time, keep writing and revising!

Kristin

Kristin Noland - Speculative fiction, crime fiction, and romance ghostwriter and editor