Monday, February 7, 2011

You Write Like a Statue

I’m not slamming your writing. Really, I’m not. Instead, I’m playing with statues today. I want you to tell me which statue you write most like:

The David

You feel exposed when you write, vulnerable. Your words are on display for all the world to read. Much like David in the Bible, you pen your novel with passion and purpose. Your heart pounds within you as you pour your characters onto the page. Ideas wake you in the morning and tuck you into bed at night. You were made to write. This passion can be misunderstood and judged, but you answer to only One.



The Thinker

You take a long time to ponder your thoughts. No doubt you’re a plotter. A surefire way to know if you resemble The Thinker is by examining whether your WIP causes as much growth in you when you write it as it will for your readers when they devour it. You also hesitate to write from the gut and this frustrates you more often than you’d like to admit. Your novels are like birdbaths, places for your active creative thoughts to cool off and bathe.


Caesar Augustus

You rule over your manuscript, making sure every detail is accurate. Your author platform is imperative in spreading the word about your books. It’s clear after reading your work that you go about constructing stories that appeal more to the head than the heart. Calculated, business savvy and discerning are all words that would readily describe you. You are king of edits.




Lady Justice

You write like Lady Justice if there’s always a message in your work, a moral story. You appreciate instigating thought in your readers—probing them to come to moral conclusions. You long for your readers to evaluate your work as you do, objectively, weighing truth, fairness, justice, and mercy.







Iwo Jima Memorial

Writing is not only a battle for you, it’s a war. You have to put on armor as you sit to write, forging through the disparaging self-talk, abundance of adverbs and muddy indecipherable meaning of your WIP. But you’re determined, girded with resilience and belief in your calling. Critique partners, agents and editors may surround you to help you plant your manuscript where it needs to be. As you lift your head to see the symbol of your endurance, you are encouraged to fight on.

Discobolus (Discus thrower)

Writing is a sport for you. You’re in position to throw your work out there. You’ve put in the hours (perhaps years) training and now it’s time to let it go. You fling your words to the wind just to see how far they’ll fly.




So tell me, which statue describes you?












*photos by flickr

26 comments:

  1. WEll, I DON'T KNOW!

    Maybe you could tell me which one I am?

    Great post. I tweeted it.

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  2. I think I'm David. My thoughts just bubble over, and I feel like I have to speak them or write them down before they disappear. While the bubbling is good for my writing, it gets me into trouble (like this: http://bit.ly/hzz01a). Silly me.

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  3. I think I'm a little like David and a lot like the Thinker and Iwo Jima mixed together.
    This is awesome how you compared our writing selves to statues-love it!

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  4. Kara, I'm very similar to you except I'd say I'm equal parts David, Thinker, and Iwo Jima.

    Good pop quiz, Wendy! :-)

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  5. Without a doubt, David. When I send my work off...I literally have an image of them being able to see me naked. Creepy...and I wish that I could stop feeling that whenever I click 'send'...but I can't! :) As a writer, I'm afraid I reveal more about myself on the page than I would ever do in a normal world.

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  6. After spending two years in Revision Land, I'd say I'm Iwo Jima. However, when I'm pouring forth a story, there's some David. My experience has taught me to incorporate more Thinker.

    At the end of the day, after your visitors have posted, I hope you'll tell us which you think you are, Wendy. I have an idea, but I want to see if my guess is correct.

    I muffed up my first word verification and the second time got "crudglo." How fitting. I've spent years learned how to do just that: take my cruddy first drafts, revise, and make them glow. =)

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  7. I'm The Thinker. Without a doubt.

    Which will please my son, who loves The Thinker character in Night at the Museum 2.

    Fiyah-powah!

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  8. What a thought provoking post! I don't write novels, and I'm at the beginning of identifying myself as a writer (even though I've been doing it for 27 years in my own private journals!) but I would say that I am David and Iwo Jima. I very much identify with David as a warrior and worshiper. When I write, it's with passion and purpose and vulnerability, but I think that it will be a battle for me to get out in a form that will be understandable for the average reader. I can see myself needing lots of help.

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  9. I guess I'm the most like Lady Justice. Love a good moral to the story. :O)

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  10. Iwo Jima Memorial

    I think. Though I'm not surrounded by agents and editors. LOL! But I think I do spend a lot of self doubt talk and forge through, DETERMINED! Great post, I loved it. :)

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  11. Fun post! I'd like to say the thinker, but I'm probably more of a charging up the hill ready to plant my flag kind of girl. ;)

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  12. Hmm. Not really sure. I do like to think, and I like to have control over the thing - I edit, write, edit, write. And there has to be a moral to the story. So I guess I'm a combination.

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  13. This is GREAT!
    I think I'm the Iwo Jima Memorial.

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  14. I'm Lady Justice. Wow. You nailed me almost to a tee. I think I'm creeped out.

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  15. If you think of me, do you need to ask? I'm David for sure.

    And now, dear Wendy, please tell us who you are?

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  16. Oh, I think I'm a cross between The David and The Thinker.

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  17. Cassandra, Thanks for the tweet. I know you love to grow as you write and you encourage others to think...so you pick. ;)

    Rachel, I can be quite spontaneous myself. It makes for some wonderful memories. Laughable ones.

    Thanks Kara. You'll soon see I'm much of a mix myself.

    Rosslyn, I laughed when I opened your Tin Man/Scarecrow example today. You so need to visit.

    Gia, You've hit upon something so telling that we deal with as writers. I was just telling my friend the other day I feel most like me when I write my thoughts as opposed to say them. But yes, that equates to a deeper vulnerability.

    Keli, I laughed hard about the crudglo! They could make a real good product with that name! Thanks for the way you reached out today. I'll answer at the end of this marathon comment. Thanks for asking.

    Erica, I haven't seen 2. My kids were scared of 1 when it came out, but you've intrigued me.

    MfD, What a poignant point about translating the passion from something you understand to something that will be understood by others. A true fight it is.

    Diane, Nice. This is one reason I enjoy reading Jodi Picoult.

    Angie, Should I worry about your arms? :D

    Casey, There is so much to be said for determination. It's a constant teacher, even if we are the only ones learning from it.

    Katie, Yep, I see that.

    T., There has to be something so satisfying about planting that flag, eh?

    Cath, I write so many of these where people usually overlap. It's fun that way.

    Jennifer, Still flying from all your good news.

    Jaime, I do what I can to creep you out. Actually I'm looking in your windows now to get my notes for my next post. :D

    Anne, Yeah David. Is it odd to have a crush on David? Yes, probably.

    Heather, A good cross I'd say. A nice blend.

    It's so fun to have company in this place come and prop feet up and throw around these absurd and unusual ideas with me.

    Stephen King sums up my answer in something he wrote in On Writing:

    “I think you will find that, if you continue to write fiction, every character you create is partly you.”

    The one I relate to the least is Caesar Augustus.

    Hope you sleep well, thankful you aren't really a statue and neither is your writing.

    ~ Wendy

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  18. Hi Wendy -

    What a creative post!

    I think I'm a cross between David and Lady Justice.

    Blessings,
    Susan :)

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  19. Wendy,

    LOVE this post! I'm a David, I think? I'm also indecisive . ;)

    -Mel

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  20. Iwo Jima, for sure. Of course I'm a little bit of all of them.

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  21. This is so creative and so YOU!

    I'm a cross between Discolus and the Thinker. I have fun writing and throwing words out there, but I also am a major plotter!

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  22. Oh holy cow, it's Imo Jima, all the way. It's a battlefield, baby.

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  23. A mix, really, of The David and The Thinker. Great question, Wendy!

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  24. I'm so behind in my blog reading and have had this starred for a few days. You amaze me with your insights and analogies. Truly a gift, Wendy!
    I think I'm a mixture of The David and The Thinker. I do feel exposed when I write, that a part of me is seen by all. But, I often think through and plot before I sit down and write. I like to have a bit of a map to follow...

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