The Secret to Better Building

[SavaTheAggie]

Someone recently asked me to teach them to be a better builder, and I thought I'd share with everone what I told him.

The secret to building well is: there is none.

There is no magic bullet, there is no grain of wisdom that will magically make you a master builder. It's not something you're born with, it's not something you can be taught by others. Having a huge number of bricks doesn't allow you to build great castles, it allows you to build big castles.

Some of you think I'm some master builder, but I'm not. I am no genius when it comes to LEGO, I'm no prodigy; some Beehtoven of the brick. I've just been doing this for a while.

And that's the real 'secret': experience. If you want to be a better builder, build!

Keep building MOCs, study other's, try new things. Build outside of your favorite theme, you might just learn a thing or two in the new theme that will help your old one.

The size of your collection of bricks isn't holding you back, so don't use it as an excuse to not try. Some of the greatest builders out there have tiny little collections.

My earliest MOCs were horrible. The earliest MOC I photographed was well into my career of building MOCs, but it still was pretty bad. So I kept building, learning from previous MOCs, and slowly I got better and better.

Everyone starts at the bottom. Don't get discouraged if your MOC isn't 'better' than someone else's, this is not a contest. So what if it's been done before, if it's not original. I've copied plenty of other people's designs, changing things where I wanted. Sometimes I come up with something better, sometimes I don't, but I always learn something new.

Don't be afraid to fail, not every MOC is a winner. And that's the great thing about LEGO, if you're not satisfied with what you've built, tear it apart and try again.

Sure, there are tips and tricks galore to building with LEGO. Different SNOT techniques, specialized pieces used in new and different ways, they're all out there, but even then using them doesn't make a MOC good. Well built MOCs come from experience, and there's no one who can teach you that but you.

--Tony

[Prince Imdol]

This is some great advise Sava. Basically I think that building comes from your heart. What you think is a great creation might be horrible in someone else's eyes, or the other way around. There are bad creations and good creations yes, but who cares about that, build to your own standard.


P.I

[The_Vanquished]

You forgot to mention the ritual involving the offering of a Legoman to the sun god, then travelling to the end of the rainbow were an elf will grant you magic Lego building skills.



This is great advice, everyone has their own building level, which gets better with every MOC. And looking at others creatings is a great thing to do! I have improved immensely ever since I found Lego creations on the internet.

[Lord Felix]

I agree wholeheartedly, but it is important - perhaps you could add this - to be involved in giving and receiving positive comments and constructive criticism. This has been the thing that keeps me going through difficult times while building lego and in life in general.

Good advice, but I think the person that asked you was just a little too general; I think he wanted references to building tricks

[DARKspawn]

Interesting thread, it makes me think how did I learn to build? Well firstly I consider myself to be still learning. And there-in lies the key. I continually try to find ways to challenge myself & my collection. I get ideas from looking at other peoples' MOCs & the techniques they have used & think to myself, "how can I incorporate that in X MOC?" or even construct an MOC around that technique.

The best way to improve your building is to build, look at other people's MOCs & understand the techniques they are using & then try them out yourself. I find a limited collection forces you to be creative in ways I would have never considered before. And the most important thing is to have fun, as Sava said it is not a competition.

[jovian]

... And the most important thing is to have fun, as Sava said it is not a competition.

Quoted for truth. If you're having fun, then you're on the right path regardless of what others think of the final product.

I second the suggestion to study other themes, even if you don't build in them. You will learn new tricks and might just be inspired to try something new.

[Mr. D]

Thanks, Anthony, great post. I've also been learning the same things, although (being younger than you) I haven't been able to put what I've learned into practice as much. However, I remember way before I found online LEGO, my MOCs would improve in small steps. I would think a MOC was great and, after it sat around for a while, I would see all its faults and build a new MOC to best the old one. Now, with all these great creations accessible online, that process is greatly accelerated - I can see how others did it instead of trying to figure it out and going through the gradual process of improvement. Not that I can just stop thinking, but I can start where the other person left off.

Great topic.

D-Man

[Donut]

This is a very helpful/inspiring thread. Would it be possible to make this a sticky for newer builders to read or to spark ideas for those of us who have "builders block"?

[Spongey]

Thanks for the great advice. For an aspiring builder like myself, it is great to see that someone who has become a master like yourself started off as a beginner as well; it gives me the hope and the drive to succeed. Thanks again for such an inspiring thread.

[Ardohoth]

Well thats my big problem i usually break everything and start all over again and the same thing happens all the 10 years i try to make castles, medieval enviroments and things like that.

I have the imagination but when i finish something my mind tells me that i have to make something else. So big dissapointment.

But thats the magic as long as you inspire you create

[Eddard]

I belive that the whole thing is a question of selfconfidence and selfcritisism. You need to look at your MOCs from an outside perspective or be able to take critisism from other people. If your not happy with a MOC, then deal with it and learn something from it, then just change it. I totally agree to largely every post in this thread and Sava hits the nail, I belive.

I for one have started to build again after a long time away from LEGO and I feel I have alot to learn about building, but I see that as a great way to do what I like to do; build more LEGO.

[JoshWedin]

I belive that the whole thing is a question of selfconfidence and selfcritisism. You need to look at your MOCs from an outside perspective or be able to take critisism from other people.

Exactly. You have to be able to self-criticize and take outside criticism. One thing that really has helped me critique my own MOCs is setting them aside for a day or two after they are "finished" and then going over them again then. I call this the "aging" process for my MOCs. It helps give me fresh perspective.

Josh

[TheBrickster]

Like with anything; I think most importantly, people have to find their own style. Everyone is different. And practice does NOT always make perfect. Inspiration is more important. Sometimes, I can sit down and be happy with a MOC on the first build. Other times, it takes me a few rebuilds and I'm still not happy with the outcome. The joy and fun rests with the enjoyment of building.

[ook22]

I thought this was a great topic and I thought I would add something that has helped me in my career and as a new Lego builder. Not having enough bricks is not a disadvantage. Quite the opposite I think it's a far superior way to build.

Here's why.

It forces you to innovate and make the best of what you have. And because it forces you to innovate you'll find that you have more unique creations. I refer to this phenomenon as the "Star Wars Effect". Look at the early Star Wars design. Basically they took old plastic models and "bashed" them together to make whatever they could. They didn't have millions of dollars and couldn't design anything they wanted with computers. So they cleverly worked around their limitations and accomplished what they could. This resulted in some truly genius emergent design. Fast forward to modern E1 Star Wars and you can see the results of an infinite budget and computers that allow a "design whatever you want" mindset. You get a bunch of boring "seen it before" super slick and boringly "perfect" ideas.

So back to Lego. Let your limited collection guide you sometimes! Work around pieces you "need" and get creative with what you have got!

Cheers,

ook