LESSON ONE: Don’t over complicate things, like Jillian did with this mess of a coat. Sometimes less is more, and that can apply to plot lines, characters with no purpose, background overkill and unnecessary scenes.
LESSON TWO: Make those difficult cuts, like Sweet Pea did when she strayed from her original vision of a denim wedding dress by hacking off a ton of material. The end result? An adorable dress that probably came close to winning.
Also to be learned from Sweet Pea, courtesy of author Melissa Wyatt, is “And Sweet Pea listened to her editor/Tim Gunn! She didn’t get all artsy and defensive and say “I like it this way” or “This is my vision.” She saw that her vision was not translating for her audience and she adapted appropriately. You must learn to at least listen to the outside voices when it’s time.”
LESSON THREE: Don’t be afraid to try something new and think outside the box, as Rami finally did with this cute dress. (Or was it because you can’t drape denim? Hmm.) Anyway . . . Do you write pictures? Try a novel for the poops and giggles one time. Are you a novelist? Give an essay a go. You might surprise yourself.
LESSON FOUR: Keep writing and growing, no matter how many times your books are rejected. Think of how many boring designs Ricky sent down the runway. He could have very well believed he was a failure after being at the bottom so many times, but instead, he tapped into his core strength and put out one heck of a dress.
LESSON FIVE: This one comes from Kelly R. Fineman, who says, “The lesson to be learned from Christian isn’t from his dress. It’s from his character (and the shocked/snitty expression on his face when they congratulated Ricky, and not him): Be careful of your image, and do try to be humble. Not falsely humble, by any means, but for Pete’s sake, not cocky.”
And to add to that lesson–published writers should never look down or doubt the abilities of a starting writer or one who hasn’t sold a book yet. They could very well kick everyone’s rear one day by winning a Newberry, or in Ricky’s case, winning the challenge!
LESSON SIX: And finally . . . even the best writers stumble sometimes, like Victorya did with this coat. Which really was shocking, considering how she’s won, what? Four times? So there’s a good chance that your favorite author has a few nasty manuscripts hidden in their file cabinet that will never see a bookshelf. But, instead of quitting or dwelling over it . . . they move on! Which I hope Victorya does, seeing how I was so sure she’d make to to the finals.
Now get out there and design some great stories!
