I am always intrigued by the language writers use to talk about writing. Perplexed, but intrigued. On-line, cyber space is full of talk of the writer’s tool box. All aspects of writing are tools. Not being a dab hand at DIY I routinely use a hammer to crack a nut and a similar approach to writing might be problematic.
I think people who think of aspects of writing, point of view, voice, world building, character building as tools must have a story in their head somehow, a platonic ideal of a story that they somehow reconstruct with the aid of bolt cutters, electric drills and a pair of pliers. I find the metaphor useless as I have no ideas at all when I start. None. Sweet F A. I don’t need a tool box I need a clue.
Is writing for me like doing a puzzle? A bit. Maybe. I don’t know; I don’t do puzzles. Certainly at the start it is like twenty questions. Is my heroine a princess, a slave, a dog, a duck billed platypus? I really don’t know anything at all at the beginning.
I kind of find all that POV, character and voice stuff arrives with the story – like the instruments I know I want to use from the moment I start trying to come up with a tune. I know the kind of sound I want – more or less, but I work out how to make it as I go along. Does that make sense? Probably not. I don’t understand enough about the mechanics of musical composition to strike a chord with those that do.
When obliged to talk about writing process, I often talk about weaving, which is ridiculous as I have no idea how to do that in real life. I definitely have story threads that I need to be worked into an overall pattern, different colours that need to be given prominence at different times, but as a metaphor it isn’t terribly helpful which probably explains some of the blank looks I get from students.
‘It’s like painting’ I say, a woman who hasn’t painted since about 1978 and wasn’t very good at it then. ‘The narrative kind of drives forward like a snow plough.’ What? ‘It’s like sewing – the main thread is a strong red line I embroider as I go.’ What is this girl on? I can’t do embroidery. I spent the year I was supposed to learn cross-stitch reading ‘Biggles’ under the desk and the same goes for knitting – only I think I was reading ‘Narnia.’
At secondary school I forgot my fabric every sewing lesson as reading the text book was more interesting. I can’t do craft and I can’t explain how I write – metaphors break down, melt or fizzle out in thin air like spells with no substance, lacking truth or power.
I don’t know how to describe writing a book – it’s like writing a book OK?
7 comments:
I've been telling people it's like going on a cruise - you know the start point and the destination and some of the stops on the way, but you've got no idea what will happen on the voyage. Of course I've never been on a cruise.
;) It may be that the more you know the less the metaphor makes sense.
I always think it's like doing up a house
What, endless months of inactivity followed by bouts of chaos?
See I have done up a house and it didn't feel like writing a novel at all in that I can do wiring and plumbing at the same time and I don't need to wait six weeks for the damp proof course. On the other hand you do always end up with less than you hoped for and it often takes twice as long and costs much more than you expected...
It's like sculpture (which I've never done); I feel a lot of affinity with Michelangelo - it's a matter of letting the angel out of the stone. Though I generally get the chunk of stone with a hunchback dwarf and someone else gets all the angel-stones. So I guess the only tool I need is a chisel.
Like doing up a house in that after it's all finished somebody always decides that the radiators/powerpoints/plumbing are in the wrong places and need to be changed.
Ah yes - that I get!
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