What's this anvil doing in my backpack?
September 12, 2010 7:04 AM
Who came up with the "backpack metaphor" for writing fiction?
I have been thinking about plotting in fiction, and working on some essays regarding proper plotting by writers. I started off with "Chekhov's Gun" - don't introduce more plot elements than necessary - and how failure to keep this in mind can result in an unbalanced, overly-complicated story that your readers will not enjoy.
Another metaphor is scratching at the back of my mind - the hiker's backpack. The way it works is as follows: writing a story is like packing your friend's backpack for a hiking trip. You want to make sure that she will use everything in the pack, and that there will be nothing in there that she did not use. If she gets to the end of her trip with an unused 5 kg bag of rice, she will have some very angry words for you.
The same can apply to plot elements - if the writer includes plot points that aren't relevant by the close of the story, that will diminish the reader's experience.
So my question for the Hive Mind is: whose idea is this? I'm reasonably sure it's not mine, and I want to give it proper credit when I use it. I thought it might be Stephen King's, but a quick skim through On Writing proved fruitless.
Many thanks....
I have been thinking about plotting in fiction, and working on some essays regarding proper plotting by writers. I started off with "Chekhov's Gun" - don't introduce more plot elements than necessary - and how failure to keep this in mind can result in an unbalanced, overly-complicated story that your readers will not enjoy.
Another metaphor is scratching at the back of my mind - the hiker's backpack. The way it works is as follows: writing a story is like packing your friend's backpack for a hiking trip. You want to make sure that she will use everything in the pack, and that there will be nothing in there that she did not use. If she gets to the end of her trip with an unused 5 kg bag of rice, she will have some very angry words for you.
The same can apply to plot elements - if the writer includes plot points that aren't relevant by the close of the story, that will diminish the reader's experience.
So my question for the Hive Mind is: whose idea is this? I'm reasonably sure it's not mine, and I want to give it proper credit when I use it. I thought it might be Stephen King's, but a quick skim through On Writing proved fruitless.
Many thanks....
Lester Faigley has a composition textbook called Backpack Writing, but it's a pretty recent book and I don't know if the phrase originated with him...but that would be one avenue to check. I don't remember whether the intro to that book says anything about the title or not.
posted by BlooPen at 10:53 AM on September 12, 2010
posted by BlooPen at 10:53 AM on September 12, 2010
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posted by rongorongo at 9:07 AM on September 12, 2010