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Tinker Tuesday for August 26, 2025

This thread is for anyone working on personal projects to share their progress, and hold themselves somewhat accountable to a group of peers.

Post your project, your progress from last week, and what you hope to accomplish this week.

If you want to be pinged with a reminder asking about your project, let me know, and I'll harass you each week until you cancel the service

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

In On Writing, Stephen King outlined his writing process in broad strokes:

  1. Get the first draft down on paper as quickly as possible while the idea is fresh in your mind, aiming for 2,000 words a day.
  2. Leave it for six weeks.
  3. Read over your first draft, ideally in one sitting.
  4. Revise the first draft into a second draft.
  5. Allow one or more people you trust to read the second draft.
  6. Using their feedback, revise the second draft into a "polish" (or third draft, depending on how you look at it).

My girlfriend finished reading the second draft of my NaNoWriMo project, and rated it anywhere either 6.5 or 7 out of 10. She confirmed that it was never boring or cringe, often very entertaining to read and emotionally affecting in places. She had two major criticisms which I'm taking seriously, and a couple of smaller criticisms and suggestions. Work now continues on the "polish", or third draft.

I am 1000% over this chair project. I think I started it in the spring?

Anyways, I'm on the home stretch. Everything is sanded, although I think I need to go back over a few of the back legs and even some things out. I've begun shellacing and waxing all the pieces, and hopefully on Thursday I can glue up the first completed chair. My wife suggested I get a chair finished and assembled at a time to stay motivated, and I think that was a good idea. It was feeling daunting having to finish nearly 80 pieces before I could assemble any. So hopefully next week I have some pictures of the first finished product.