Hog in the Wall

I heard my husband mention this term not long ago, and I had no idea what it meant. Maybe some of you know, but I had to ask. Evidently it’s a masonry term for a wall that’s built to one height (with a flat base), but one end has an extra course to get to that height. If I’m understanding it correctly, it’s basically a workman’s flaw that may or may not be very easy to spot. After all, the height is correct—but one bricklayer used one more course (or row) of bricks than the other to get to that height.

Like so many curious phrases that come my way, it played often in my mind for a day or two. How did it fit into my writing? What’s a potential “hog in the wall” in the plot for the novel I’m just starting? After all, I know how it’s going to end (with the uniform height of a satisfyingly happy ending) but are there any parts of my character’s journey that might prove to be a “hog in the wall” upon closer inspection?

That’s the way we are, those of us who carry around a passion. We’re never very far away from our line of work. Somehow, sooner or later, just about everything is fodder for a novel or some aspect of writing it.

My hog in the wall phrase didn’t stop there. Not long ago when I wasn’t feeling well I mentioned to my husband that I probably had something seriously wrong (okay, if anything I was suffering from a bout of hypochondria). But whatever was wrong with me, I told my husband, I didn’t think God was going to take me home until I have a chance to write this one scene I have in mind for my newest book. It will so clearly convey a spiritual aspect that I’m convinced I have immunity from death until getting that scene down on paper.

To which my husband said “Ah, ha! You’ve just proved a point I’ve long suspected. Everybody always claims people on their deathbed don’t say things like: ‘I wish I’d spent one more day at the office.’ Maybe they do, after all.”

Obviously he wasn’t convinced I was on my deathbed, or he might have been more concerned about my health than about proving common sayings wrong. But that’s another topic. At the end of one’s life, some people think they might wish they’d spent more time with loved ones instead of working. Evidently for my husband I’d just proved there’s a potential fallacy with that reasoning. It’s probably not all that uncommon to have even loving people issuing last minute business instructions from their deathbed.

I’m not sure which of those two scenarios are my hog in the wall for today—thinking anything will give me immunity from death or that if I’d been on a real deathbed I might instead have uttered one of the classic lines about wanting more time with my loved ones. I do know none of us is immune to death, no matter what we leave unfinished. God will see it done, somehow, and if it’s important enough He’ll see it done with or without us.

Spotting flaws in our work isn’t always easy. That’s where critique partners come in, and editors with a good eye. Probably not our most supportive friends or relatives, but someone with a fresh eye and enough experience to see what’s really on the page.

So I guess I’ll have to trust them, once again, to help me spot potential hogs in the wall in my upcoming novel. I’ll be talking about my new storyline in the weeks to come.

How about you? Do you have someone in your life to help you ferret out your hogs in the wall?

Before I close for today I also want to announce the winner of my recent contest, announced in my latest newsletter. Congratulations to: Kristi! I’ll be in touch as to how I can get a copy of Look to the East to you. Thanks to you and to everyone else who entered. 🙂