An odd metaphor? Perhaps. And yet I see a link between writing and eating noodles, especially the idea of trying to master the chopsticks. Trying to get those slippery noodles between those two pieces of wood--well, that's trying to wrestle your plot into shape. And then there's the other struggle--that long string of noodles that you can't bite off without looking rude. I see that as a lovely analogy for revision. Where to cut it off? Too much? Too little? How to decide? There's a lot of pressure here; people are watching, after all.And of course they say that when you eat stir-fry food you end up being hungry again in what seems like just a few minutes. When I struggle through a mystery I think, okay, that's IT. I'm finished. And yet it's not too much later that I find myself jotting notes for a new idea, because I'm not truly FULL. I have to keep writing.
Does my noodle comparison work? You tell me, or give me your best analogy for writing.
8 comments:
I think the noodle analogy is great!
Thanks! I'm also showing off a favorite old picture, but I like the analogy, too!
I thought The Noodle Parallel was a Robert Ludlum novel.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Oh my gosh, Peter, I made the same joke to my husband. Maybe you and I were a vaudeville team in another life.
Writing is a lot like trying to think of an analogy for writing but not being able to come up with anything more original than beating my head against the wall while everyone else has great analogies for it like eating noodles.
Hahahah. I think your analogy is MUCH more realistic, Eric! And true of my writing style lately, for sure.
Are characters meatballs, or are they more like sauce?
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
I have to go with meatballs. Meatballs contain lots of diverse ingredients (although so does sauce), and they are distinct. None of them look quite the same, while sauce is nondescript, eternal. I think setting is sauce.
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