Are We Up the Creek Without a Paddle?

It's been a busy day of analogies to do with boats and oars (all will become clear) and the feature that Tori and I have been writing has hit the 'barking mad' stage.

The barking mad stage is the bit in between us thinking we have a helluva great idea and and the finished feature.


We're at the bit inbetween, where it's not yet clear whether or not this'll work. The initial concept is down on paper, it doesn't quite flow, it doesn't quite make sense and it's a toss up between whether this is going to end up as a work of genius or crash and burn, or in this case sink without trace.

Together, we're hardly Lennon and McCartney (allright Tori, you can be Lennon), but there is a kind of creative synergy when we work, if that doesn't sound too overblown and pompous (it does, doesn't it?). The ideas take on a life of their own and our confidence comes from thinking of it as neither her idea nor mine but a separate entity that needs to be worked on by both of us. Often we both have so much input that we can't remember whose idea was whose.

But if this sinks without trace, Tori, I'd just like you to know that I think this idea was yours.

The analogies that we're making are about communication and conversation, and the subject is so huge that we've decided to do a three-parter. That means that our particular analogy has got to 'hold water' (once you start thinking boats, your brain can't think of anything else) for a very long time indeedy.

"Keep rowing Tori, I think I see dry land!"

Tori's great at the 'bursting with ideas' stage. As a speech and language therapist, communication is her speciality and she knows what she wants to get across. Meanwhile I'm trying to sew words together, creating a story that's in tune with our general message, that's consistent and easy to follow. It's hard not to get tied up in knots (I've done it again - knot - geddit?!) as we lurch between metaphor and reality. We have to leave it several times and come back to it to get a fresh perspective.

What's less concerning is that however barking mad our idea happens to be, graphic designer Jo Perry will simply accept it as though we're completely normal. She's had everything thrown at her, has Jo. She's had to make advice into Christmas trees, Zebra crossings, ice-creams, planets, several beaches  and even an Indiana Jones movie (that was an indulgent move to get a Harrisson Ford pic in the magazine). You name it, she's drawn it.

Although Jo appears to be quite sane, she can't be really can she? She never says 'I'm sorry, you want a Tardis - why??' She just goes with it. More than that, she adds her own extras. On our DIY SPECIAL: How to A Build to Communication (which you can find in our Starter's Special), her attention to detail in the face of our barkingness is loitering on the insane. If you look at it, the entire feature looks like a set of flat pack instructions and no detail has been too great - down to the scattered nails and hammer with convincing shadows across the bottom of the page.

I think it's this detail that gives the impression that we really MEAN our ideas, we have really thought them through - and hopefully it takes you with us and you become immersed in our quirky little world.

Still, it has to be said that by the end of today, awash with the boat story, we both began to feel slightly seasick. So we rounded it off by trying out my new hair curling device thingy. The advantages of not working in an office...