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June 23rd, 2009
01:59 pm - How Is Furniture Stripper Like Manuscript Revision?
I am currently restoring/repurposing a 100 year-old Singer treadle sewing machine that I inherited from my grandmother, Belle Neff Broyles. When she died, I immediately claimed the machine and had it moved from Illinois to California, where it sat in a shed because I wasn't sure quite what to do with it. We already had the furniture we needed, including a more modern sewing machine. Our home is not "country" or filled with antiques, and for me, an antique sewing machine just took up space without being of use. But still, the sentimental attachment--
So we then moved the machine (a heavy piece of furniture because of the cast iron pedestal) from California to Massachusetts four years ago. Once again, the machine languished in the corner of a garage. I thought of donating it to a museum or selling it, but never found any takers. Recently, I decided that it is a nice reminder of my paternal family and could make me feel good to have it around if it were useable. Thus, I decided to forgo the monetary antique value of a working treadle machine and transform it into something useful.
Antique lovers, don't read on. And furniture restorers, don't berate me. I already regret some of the choices I have made, but there's no turning back! First, I cut the belt that kept the machine working, then removed the machine itself, which is well-used and faded--not some perfect gem of an antique from the cabinet. I used a wire brush and Naval Jelly (I'd never even heard of this stuff--what a great name!) to clean the base of old paint and rust. Next, I spray painted the base, and I am now stripping off the varnish of the cabinet to refinish it to a table. Assuming I can soon find someone to cut the table top, within a short time, we will have a serviceable table with a beautiful iron pedestal complete with detailed Singer logo and other info.
At the same time, I am revising my Trail of Tears book, a manuscript that feels close to antique itself, I have worked on it so long. Just as I put a coat of stripper on a drawer panel of the sewing machine cabinet to get it back to the original state, I often let an idea "simmer until it works" and I know I am ready to cut out words, sentences, paragraphs, pages in order to peel away to "only what is necessary" in the book. The middle section of the book drags? Make it shorter! Punch up the language! Cull it to the essential scenes that keep the plot and sub-plots moving along.
Just as I use steel wool to buff away spots on the wood after the stripper has done its work, I then read and reread certain sections to be sure they are just what is needed, and no more. When I soon apply a stain to try to match the original wood tone, it may feel like those moments when I go through my manuscript with a different objective each time: Is Jane's voice true? How does the major conflict play out from chapter to chapter? Does a scene need to be moved in order to have more punch?
By the end of next week (if it ever stops raining so I have the best light to do all of the above), I may have a complete table that is not exactly like its previous form, but hopefully, more useful to me and still a sentimental reminder. And by summer's end, I hope to have a complete revision of my novel that is different than the previous revision, but ready to send out to editors.
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