Fixing is creating

My new role where I work seems to be the go-to person for "Hey, this thing, this system that we've been using forever, it doesn't work very well. Can you fix it?" I'm thinking of buying some blue overalls and a red and yellow checked shirt only they don't seem very business casual.

Fresh eyes. A new perspective. These are the marketing terms for "hasn't been here for years and so hasn't given up yet." If you've ever been at a new job and the person showing you around says something like "Don't worry, you'll get used to it," then you know what I mean.

Years ago I was crewing for a theatrical production and each night we had to carry a couch off the stage and through a couple of doorways across a narrow corridor backstage. The problem was that the doors opened towards each other, making it difficult to get the couch through. An older gentleman who had worked there forever chuckled at our first attempt at navigating this and stated that it had always been a bit tricky. I looked at the problem and asked him if we needed the second door for anything. He looked bemused, said "well no, I suppose not." So I took the door off. He never spoke to me again.

You may have noticed but sometimes I'll make a typo or a grammatical error. I'll be so lost in getting a story out of my head that I don't fully see the words I'm putting on the page. And it's not like I don't notice a mistake at all; I'll read the same sentence over and over again because something about it is bugging me but I can't for the life of me work out what is wrong with it.

Fresh eyes. A new perspective. Get an editor. Get a friend to read your work. Read theirs in exchange. This works for missing plot points and odd jarring character moments too. Quite often you can be too close to a story, too involved in the world you are creating, to have proper perspective on the tools you are using to convey the story. You know a character is wearing a blue dress, you can see it so clearly. So of course another character was going to react that way because it's the exact same blue their wife was wearing when she left but on reflection and deeper analysis you realise you never actually typed the word "blue" anywhere. Invest in proper feedback. This thing you've put your heart and soul into, this piece of writing you've sweated blood and tears over? Yeah, full of mistakes. Fixing them is just as much part of the creative process as the original rush of story-telling.

At work I'm currently taking all the separate internal employee request forms and combining them into one interactive document. This is actually more interesting than it sounds. And while I wouldn't call it sexy, it's not like it has pulling power at a bar like "hey, yeah, so I'm a jet pilot," it is fun crafting something that makes other people's lives easier. It brings me joy to fix things. I'm crafting logic maps, refining how people work with information. I'm embracing my inner geek. And I'm learning new things, new tricks with formulas and macros. Learning brings joy, even for those of us over mummble mummble. Plus they got me the cool new design software I asked for so hells yes the documents I'm making look pretty.

Creating is joy. Yes, excel spreadsheets count.