Make It Work

The reality TV craze ushered in one fierce gentleman who made the catchphrase "Make it work designers!" a household saying. Tim Gunn of Project Runway has encouraged designers and consulted them since 2004 on the popular TV show now in its 7th Season. From the first "Gather round, designers." and through every subsequent "This worries me." and to the final "Make it work, GO GO GO!" at the last fashion show at Bryant Park, Tim Gunn is the voice over the shoulder, the yetzer if you will, of every Project Runway contestant.

Sometimes as writers, we need our own Tim Gunn to guide our way. That's the reason peer editing is so important. By letting someone else look at your piece, they can tell you what someone who's outside of your creative fallout zone will see, think, or understand when they read your piece. They can say what worries them about your organizational structure. They can ask you questions about whether or not you'll be able to complete your vision in the page requirements. Tim Gunn does the same thing with the designers about their concepts and their time crunches.

However, sometimes the designers don't listen to Tim Gunn. Tim was worried that Season 4 winner Christian Siriano's designs would be too much for the judges. Christian went and did his own thing anyway and has become a huge success. Recently, his line of shoes for Payless flew off the shelves faster than you could say "Fierce." But there were other times where listening to Tim Gunn may have saved him and other contestants from elimination.

In the end, having someone look over your work doesn't mean that you HAVE to follow their advice. Sometimes it just means getting a second opinion or a reassuring statement that things are going according to plan. Sometimes where your piece is going might worry your reader, and they can guide you to a solution.

Make it work!

(Images from wikipedia.org and glamaddicts.wordpress.com)