A Quote by Celeste Ng
I think I'm good at metaphors and descriptions. Plot doesn't come naturally to me, so I work really hard at it.
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I have had to work really hard at white-ball cricket. It doesn't come naturally to me, I was a slow batsman; I worked hard on my game and fitness.
Fiction writers come up with some interesting metaphors when speaking of plot. Some say the plot is the highway and the characters are the automobiles. Others talk about stories that are "plot-driven," as if the plot were neither the highway nor the automobile, but the chauffeur. Others seem to have plot phobia and say they never plot. Still others turn up their noses at the very notion, as if there's something artificial, fraudulent, contrived.
I work really hard, and muscles don't come naturally for me, so I like to show my progress and encourage others.
Anyone can write five people trapped in a snowstorm. The question is how you get them into the snowstorm. It's hard to write a good play because it's hard to structure a plot. If you can think of it off the top of your head, so can the audience. To think of a plot that is, as Aristotle says, surprising and yet inevitable, is a lot, lot, lot of work.
Writers think in metaphors. Editors work in metaphors. A great reader reads in metaphors.
Singing didn't really come naturally to me, I don't think. I had to really work at it. I just kept singing. I never was really worried about it, though, because I was writing songs, and that was the most important thing to me.
I think it's still hard for me to turn down work if it's really good because for so many years I was desperate to get a job and couldn't, so I think it's anathema for me to turn down work if I think it's really good.
Nothing comes easy. I know that people joke all the time and try to figure out, you know, what it is that I do, but I work really hard. I get up every day at 5 a.m. and start my day. I think as long as you work really hard and figure out what you want to do and stay motivated and have a plan and stay committed - just don't be lazy. That's my best advice. It's the most simple advice, but it really worked for me. I think that for some reason, I see people that think things will come easy and it doesn't really come easy.
Any human being is really good at certain things. The problem is that the things you're good at come naturally. And since most people are pretty modest instead of an arrogant S.O.B. like me, what comes naturally, you don't see as a special skill. It's just you. It's what you've always done.
I grew up in New England. I think I was brought up with the Puritan ethic: that if you worked really hard in life, then good would come to you. The harder you work, the luckier you get. I've come to believe that it's the smarter you work, the better.
Language description and metaphors seem readily available. The things I have to work harder at are plot, pacing, and form.
People often say that if you have to work hard at a marriage, then it's not naturally good, but I think that's totally wrong.
I don't think too much about how many goals I'm going to target. I work really hard and prepare really well for the season to come... I know when I'm well prepared, when I've worked hard, the results will come.
When the surf is really good, it's hard for me to concentrate on work. So I really have to watch when and where I surf - I won't get anything done if I get the fever. Then it's like I come into work and I'm wet and waterlogged and ready for lunch.
Writers think in metaphors. Editors work in metaphors. A great reader reads in metaphors. All are continually asking, "What does this represent? What does it stand for?" They are trying to take everything one level deeper. When they get to that level, they will try to go deeper again.
The things that are said in literature are always the same. What is important is the way they are said. Looking for metaphors, for example: When I was a young man I was always hunting for new metaphors. Then I found out that really good metaphors are always the same.
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