apply the join compound, I want to connect the two areas so that I can smooth them out together, and if you're repairing a hole that's really deep like this, you're never going to be able to do it in just one pass, start with a thin application like this, and then just let it dry overnight, or if you're in a real rush you can go ahead and grab a hair dryer, and run it back and forth over the area until it's completely dry. All repair products are going to shrink down when they dry, so it's important that you go ahead and put in a second application to smooth things out, and here I'm also starting to spread the compound between the two holes so that I can make this as one solid