Me too, so satisfying. Yay for math nerds! I wonder if you like Aimee Bender's Invisible Sign of My Own - I loved that novel for its combo of math/shapes/stories. So my goal might be to really put these shapes in there even more overtly perhaps...
I love metaphors as frameworks. Shapes are like the simplest version of this concept in practice.
As a visual artist in my 20s, I learned pretty early on that it was useful to have a constraining framework. That sounds weird, but the tension between the restrictions and my desire to be creative really produced some great results. Since then, I've tried to use similar frameworks to help with the writing process. Naturally, this sort of thinking resonates with me.
Not weird at all. I think having some constraints is very liberating. Without it you're paralyzed by TOO MANY choices. Within it, you are free to be very creative and problem-solve how to make it work. Glad it resonates!
I love this essay so much and am honored to have my work covered so eloquently in it. More and more over these last years, and especially as I've worked as a developmental editor with other people's novels, I've come to realize that so much of my thinking, especially as far as structure (visual idea already), is expressed in visual shapes in my mind. I'll be talking to clients about their novel and realize my right hand (usually) is making shapes in the air while I try to find words to communicate the image I'm seeing/drawing.
Flashback of you talking about a story and working your hand in the air! (Or at least I think I remember that!). Shapes are everything! So glad you like this.
Love the image of plot as graph and shape. I’m such a math nerd. 😂
Me too, so satisfying. Yay for math nerds! I wonder if you like Aimee Bender's Invisible Sign of My Own - I loved that novel for its combo of math/shapes/stories. So my goal might be to really put these shapes in there even more overtly perhaps...
I love metaphors as frameworks. Shapes are like the simplest version of this concept in practice.
As a visual artist in my 20s, I learned pretty early on that it was useful to have a constraining framework. That sounds weird, but the tension between the restrictions and my desire to be creative really produced some great results. Since then, I've tried to use similar frameworks to help with the writing process. Naturally, this sort of thinking resonates with me.
Not weird at all. I think having some constraints is very liberating. Without it you're paralyzed by TOO MANY choices. Within it, you are free to be very creative and problem-solve how to make it work. Glad it resonates!
Well said! "Paralysis by analysis" can be amplified if you're a creative type. Thanks for the excellent food for thought.
paralysis by analysis! Hamlet's dilemma - thinking too much renders him incapable of action. Thanks for the good rhyme for me to remember!
I love this essay so much and am honored to have my work covered so eloquently in it. More and more over these last years, and especially as I've worked as a developmental editor with other people's novels, I've come to realize that so much of my thinking, especially as far as structure (visual idea already), is expressed in visual shapes in my mind. I'll be talking to clients about their novel and realize my right hand (usually) is making shapes in the air while I try to find words to communicate the image I'm seeing/drawing.
Flashback of you talking about a story and working your hand in the air! (Or at least I think I remember that!). Shapes are everything! So glad you like this.