Thursday, September 9, 2010

I am...

I am a writer: I am a magician, conjuring something into being where nothing was before. Studying my art, learning the secret words to bring forth a world from the hat of my imagination. The hand is quicker than the eye. Did you see the trick behind my words? Or did I do it well enough that it all seems like magic? May I become better and better so that my craft does not show and my stories amaze and entertain.
~K.L. Oberst


In a study of metaphor, Karen Oberst played with metaphors to define who we are and what we do. She has a whole page of them HERE describing writers as:

spiders
name-givers
magicians
singers
cooks

ringmasters

carpenters
cowboys
librarians
and

conductors
.

They are all wonderful, unique, and absolutely perfect. Go choose your favorite. Find the one that best describes you or most tickles your fancy. I love the idea of writers making magic.

What's your favorite metaphor for writers?

41 comments:

Al said...

dreamweavers

Terri Tiffany said...

I am not good at metaphors but love some of hers:) Have a great day!

Robyn Campbell said...

Nice post. Gardners. Because we are planting worlds and ideas and watching them grow as we write our books.

I had fun thinking about this. *hugs* :)

Robyn Campbell said...

Love the new pic. :)

Kittie Howard said...

Spiders! I love how stories weave.

Christine Fonseca said...

OOhhh great list! And I agree - writer's do spin a little mgic from time to time

DL Hammons said...

Masters of the Imagination. :)

Laurel Garver said...

Hmm...I like the carpenter metaphor. We steadily craft something strong and beautiful. Some of our best work, if done supberbly, is unseen. And the most well crafted books we create furnish the lives of our readers for a lifetime.

Jonathon Arntson said...

That is too cool, Shannon! I admire thoughtful metaphors because I am horrible at creating my own. Thanks for sharing.

Mary Aalgaard said...

That's great. It emphasizes my belief that we are not one kind of artist. I've used the cooking metaphor in describing the writing life. The singer metaphor speaks loudest to me this morning. The voice, the phrasing, moments of quiet, loud crashing sounds, and a dramatic pause for effect. Plus, it's a performance. You need an audience, and oh, how sweet the applause!

Erica Mitchell said...

Gah! I hate spiders ewwww! But I love this metaphor for writers. I saw the word dreamweavers above me and now I have that song stuck in my brain.

Sara {Rhapsody and Chaos} said...

I love the ringmaster one!!

I am a writer: I am a ringmaster, presenting the acts of my story to an eager audience. I make sure all the acts are ready, that they follow each other properly, that they entertain. And I am the tightrope walker, preforming feats of derring do without a net. I am the lion tamer, hoping to make my story perform without getting bitten by it. I am the clown, making people laugh, being someone else, hoping they won't see me beneath the paint.

Anonymous said...

Cooks and weavers come to mind.

Laura S. said...

Spiders is a great one! There's a big spider that lives outside my bathroom window. I love watching her spin her magnificent web! it's a magical process, how the spider creates a perfect web the first time and every time. If only writing was like that, LOL!

Tyrean Martinson said...

Unexpected heroes . . . like hobbits. Walking the long road of unplanned adventures, battling spiders whose sticky webs of doubt threaten to ensnare us, parrying the goblins of rejection, and winning the day with daily writing habits and occassional acceptance letters.

Liz @ Cleverly Inked said...

Writers do more the make magic they create whole worlds.

Jo Schaffer said...

Spiders creep me out...but conjuror works. The best feeling is when someone reads your stuff and they have an experience with your charcter that makes them feel something...and talk about them as if they were real. That's magical.

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss shannon! for me im sorta like a raccoon. first cause there sooo cute. ha ha. theyre real clever and nosey and investigate everything (like researching stuff)they use all their sensors (like making a for real character. theyre smart and could survive in the woods or the city. (like finding a good story setting) they wash off their food (like doing edit stuff). theyre could see in the dark and arent afraid in the dark (like not bein afraid to write any story) im not so good at writing stuff yet but some day im gonna be good as that ol raccoon.
...smiles from lenny

TerryLynnJohnson said...

Oooh, spiders! Awesome.

Tales of Whimsy said...

Magicians :)
Writers do make magic :) and they bring magic to people's lives :)

Elana Johnson said...

Ah, yes. Magicmakers is a good one. And I'm so glad, because I've always wanted to be able to do magic!

Susan R. Mills said...

Magicmakers for sure! I love that.

Patti said...

I like being a cook, because you want to leave everyone satisfied after the meal.

Jen said...

These are all great. I like "world builders" for a metaphor. "Magic makers" is a close second.

Jen

Karen Lange said...

I am a creator of word pictures. I can also be a painter, who uses words to make images come alive for the reader.

Love this! Thanks for the link! :)

Lola Sharp said...

Composer (of words)?

I also love Lenny's raccoon comparison. :)

Love,
Lola

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Timetraveler...

Shelley Sly said...

I like that link! In fact, I love all of the comparisons except spiders, because I can't stand bugs. But magicians, singers, and name-givers are my favorites. :)

Carolyn V. said...

Elana said magic makers. I love that one, that and spiders. Awesome!

Patti Lacy said...

Pulse takers.
Our duty is to keep our pulse on the morals, the thoughts, the spirit of humanity.

nephite blood spartan heart said...

I like Yarnspinners and I also like the craftsman type names-carpenters, blacksmiths etc.

DL Curran said...

Magicmakers - because I always dreamed I could use magic. :)

Stephanie Thornton said...

Okay, I've been reading The Spider and the Fly to my daughter. It's kind of macabre, but she loves it and so do I. So I'm going to go with spider- I'd like to trap some readers in my web. ;)

Melissa said...

Oh I'll have to check this out. I love the conductors and magicians ones.

Thanks for this.

Jenna Wallace said...

Composers -- I love the idea of making a world sing and hum with music and emotion.

Julie Dao said...

I love ringmasters and magicians!

Laura S. said...

Me again- I have a blog award for you!!! It's in my blog post today (Friday)!

Jennifer Shirk said...

I like the "cook" one. Writers need to make sure they have all the right ingredients and the right amounts so that what they create comes out satisfying.

Unknown said...

I loved a lot of them listed!!! Of course my sparkle machine is broken which helps me produce creative words so for now I'll have to live through others.

I like a lot of them though, hehe even cowboys that one makes me giggle!!!

Happy Friday!

Anonymous said...

Great metaphors. Don't like spiders. I liked the cooks metaphor.

Unknown said...

Ooh... Name-Giver. I love it. This list was so much fun! :)

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