Toolbox

Poetry is the class de jour this semester. Perfect timing. As in my previous classes, this one is coming at a perfect time in my writing evolution. My lit crit class got me used to the work; my playwriting class got me used to intense revision; my fiction class was a good testing ground for finessing the craft (although, it’s never completely finessed).

Poetry is teaching me about tools.

A writer has several tools at his disposal. First there are basic story elements: characterization, plot, imagery, etc. Each of those elements has a series of different genres, styles, and ways to construct them. For instance, a romantic writer (which I drift into from time to time) is focused on creating very distinct good guy and bad guy characters with distinct imagery. It conveys a message within a message.

Poets also have similar tools, and can write in different structures. They can rhyme or not rhyme. Use alliteration, or assonance. They can manipulate meter. Their tools focus much more on the individual words which are used (most contemporary poetry is not the long stanzas of words like Shakespeare or Milton). There is leanness to contemporary poetry, I’ve noticed. You make the most of your space, of your words.

I’m sure expert poets have all of the tools catalogued and ready to use at their whim. I’m sure it’s taken them years and years of writing, and reading, and experimenting, to see what works best for them. As my brain usually epiphanizes in this manner, I thought of cooks, then engineers, doctors, even lawyers, politicians. I realized that in the end, every profession is a craft, and each craft has a set of tools.

Some of have favorite tools. For instance, Alton Brown, cook extraordinaire, is a big fan of a huge iron skillet he’s had for years. My dad, who is very good with building all sorts of contraptions, is a big fan of his band saw. My new favorite tool is my laptop. I use it most of the time, and rarely does it not travel with me.

Inside each of us are a series of mental tools which we use to work through our problems and/or paint our own future. These tools can range from patience, humility, integrity to sarcasm, over analysis, avoidance. The most important thing to realize is that a tool is a tool. It is a neutral device used when necessary (or reflexively) and the intent behind it makes a helpful or harmful tool.

A scapel cuts, period. What it cuts, why it cuts, is up to the user.

What tools do you use under what situations? Are you more accustomed to some tools? Are there tools which are too awkward for you to use? What tools do you wish you could learn how to use? What tools create more harm than good? Do you habitually grab the hammer when you should grab the screwdriver? What tools do you posses which you haven’t recognized? Is there a spatula you’ve never used? What tools do you take for granted?

As we learn our crafts in life, see what tools you use in your area of expertise. Make a list of all the tools you’ve used. Pay attention to the ones which you use all the time compared to the ones you rarely use (as a note, Alton Brown recommends that you consider throwing out some of those tools...sometimes we need to let go of certain tools to learn new ones).

In the end, be a craftsman of life.

pb

PS: Many of you are aware that I’ve been following the careers of Rob Schrab and Dan Harmon pretty faithfully for some time. In HUGE Rob Schrab news, he’s decided to finish the Scud The Disposable Assassin comic book series which he drew when I was in high school. Big fan. Really excited. The most interesting note to this part of his journey is that he turned down the opportunity to direct the next Tenacious D video in order to finish up the comic. Wow.