Writing is like Plate Spinning

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Plate spinning

This is a metaphor that I’m borrowing from mystery writer Michael Connelly. He writes:

From somewhere in my memory, either amateur hour TV or the boardwalk in Venice, I remember a sideshow act called plate spinning. The object of this entertainment endeavor is to rotate plates balanced on thin wooden dowels. The practitioner gets several pieces of supposedly good china spinning at once and then must quickly move from dowel to dowel, keeping everything spinning and aloft. Paid particular attention is the plate in the middle of the formation. By virtue of its position, it is the most important of the plates. If it goes down, it invariably takes several other plates with it and you have broken china all over the ground and an empty tip bucket.

In my mind I often liken writing a book to spinning plates. There are many, many different things you have to keep up and spinning at all times.

Connelly describes some of the plates that you keep spinning when you write a novel, include story structure, writing style, pacing, and background research. For him, the central plate is characterization: if that plate falls, all the other plates are going to fall with it.

If you’re writing an argument, the plates you’re spinning will include ethos, pathos, and logos, your reasons and supporting evidence, your style, your awareness of the audience, and many other things. To me, the central plate is your main overriding claim or your thesis–if it topples or loses focus, there goes your entire argument.

Here’s an awesome video of plate spinning, a little different from the show Connelly saw, but quite impressive. This is from a Beijing Acrobat show:

Make sure to check out my Metaphors about Writing page for quotes on writing and other Writing is like… posts.

 

Photo Credit: lissalou66, Creative Commons license

The quote by Michael Connelly is from a book chapter called “Characterization,” in the book Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America (edited by Sue Grafton). See page 57.

Writing is Like… (Part 5)

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Writing is like taking care of sick kids. It takes a lot of hard work, and a lot of time. Your kids and your writing always seem to need you, and sometimes they keep you up all night.

Sick child

Like taking care of sick kids, writing can involve cleaning up gross messes.

Sometimes you need to seek professional advice and go to a doctor (or a writing instructor, writing tutor, or critique group). The doctor, ideally, has spent a lot of time with sick kids and has seen these sorts of problems before. The doctor then gives you one or more prescriptions—be it antibiotics, a grammar prescription, a prescription on your argument, your research, or your writing style.

With sick kids and with writing you do all that you can, and you often experience slow improvements. Sometimes you just need to let time play its part.

Writing is not always fun and games. Neither is taking care of sick kids, something I can attest to, as I’ve been taking care of a sick baby and a sick toddler for the last few weeks. It may not always be fun, but it is worth it.

 

Photo Credit: Lauren Grace Picture Place

If you want to know why writing is like kissing and a great number of other things, make sure to check out all my “Writing is Like” posts.

Writing is like Kissing

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Yes, you heard me. Writing is like kissing.

Lips

Kissing, like writing, works better (or at least tends to be more interesting) if there’s a second person involved. We’ll call that person the audience.

If you want your kiss (your writing) to go really well, it is often helpful if you know your audience.

Also, kissing (writing) goes better if you try to interact and engage with your audience, rather than just kissing at (writing at) your audience.

Finally, kissing (writing) gets better with practice.

Good kissing (writing) ventures, and Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

 

Photo credit: Jannie-Jan

Make sure to check out my Metaphors About Writing page for all my other “Writing is like…” posts. 

Writing is Like… (Part 3)

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Writing is like building a bird’s nest.

It’s easy to get stuck with writing, to think, “I have nothing new to say.” As the oft-repeated Biblical proverb says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” Most of the time the point of writing is not to create something new, but rather to assemble the available materials in the best way possible, just as a bird finds the best sticks, grass, and feathers and puts them in her nest.

Here’s a video of a great tit building a nest. (You can skip through it and still get the general idea.)

One thing I find fascinating about this video is that the bird doesn’t stop building her nest once she starts laying eggs–she keeps working and finding new materials until all her eggs are laid.

What are the components you can use in your nest? If you’re writing an essay, these will be your quotes and sources, your examples, your explanations. If you’re writing fiction, these will be your story tropes, character archetypes, and genre conventions.

Even if two birds use the same materials, their nests won’t turn out exactly the same. It is the same with writing–the point is not to create an identical product, but to use the wealth of materials available in the world around you.

 

Read more I’ve written on Metaphors about Writing. 

Writing is Like… (Part 2)

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Writing is like exercise. Ideally we’d all do it at least 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon

If I wanted to run a marathon I would have to do an intense daily training regimen. But even though I’m not personally interested in running a marathon, it’ s still important for me to regularly exercise so I stay healthy and fit. Only if I’m exercising regularly do I have the muscle strength and physical stamina to participate in the physical activities I enjoy, like racquetball and hiking.

Writing is like exercise. If you’re writing regularly your “writing muscles” will be in shape, more practiced, more capable of performing. The habit of writing stimulates ideas. It makes it go more smoothly.

You may be able to run a few miles without exercising regularly, or write a 5 page paper the day before it’s due, but neither will make you very happy. If you want to write at your best or to improve your writing, you should write every single day.

 

Make sure to check out all my Writing is like… posts, from this page on Metaphors about Writing.