Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Crazy Time

Finishing a book can make anyone crazy. Moods swing wildly -- This is great! This sucks! I have no idea if this is good or not! Nobody in their right mind would read this drivel! This one might be my break-out novel! Why am I in this business again?

And then one's ideas get weird. Yesterday, while trying to decide if my protagonist Amy would or would not say the dialogue I just typed in (and why at this point in the novel don't I KNOW?), I had a great insight: Writing a novel is just like doing sudoku.

Consider:

With sudoku, one's person's easy puzzle is another's terrible challenge. With writing, one person's subject matter is another's guaranteed failure.

With sudoku, a lot depends on where you start. If you happen to fill in certain key numbers early on, the whole puzzle is easier. With a story, much depends on where you start. Too early and it lacks tension, too late and you struggle to fill in backstory without resorting to expository lumps.

With sudoku, there comes a point where you find the one number that makes all the rest obvious -- usually about 2/3 of the way through the puzzle. For me that's exactly how writing works, since I don't plot beforehand. For both, it's the AHA! moment.

With sudoku, slow and steady solves the problem -- race too fast and I end up with two "8s" in the same square. With writing, the novel comes out best with a steady accumulation of pages each and every day, rather than frenetic marathon sessions punctuated by idleness.

Of course, there are differences -- sudoku really could use more plot. But -- wait! I just realized how writing is actually like growing squash! Yes! You see--

5 comments:

Oz said...

It's JUST like growing squash!

Frank Böhmert said...

Writing is like, like READING! But BACKWARDS! And then, in the beginning -- and -- !!

Rebecca LuElla Miller said...

I love the Sudoku analogy. I've said before that writing is all about problem solving, which is what Sudoku is, too. Now about slow growing vegetables ...

Becky

EFKelley said...

Well, the characterization in sudoku is a bit thin as well. It's these same ten people, over and over.

Actually, I guess that'd be a serial...

earthling said...

Love this analogy!