Writing Mysteries is Like Eating Noodles

An odd metaphor? Perhaps. And yet I see a parallel, especially to 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. But in all honesty I just wanted to post this picture of Graham and his first attempt at chopsticks. (And by the way, he was a natural). :)