Madwoman

 

I am in the processing of reworking editing my manuscript. The last time my editor saw me she asked, ‘Lucy, are you a madwoman, architect, carpenter or judge right now?’

Thankfully, this was not in any way meant to insult me.

‘I am probably at all of these at the moment,’ I said. But it got me thinking. We both knew what she was talking about. Some years ago, we both attended an ACW event in London where Amy Boucher Pye had given a talk on this topic, originally taken from Betty Flowers’ famous 1981 article: ‘Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge: Roles and the Writing Process’. If you’ve not yet come across this theory, or missed the talk, the key points are that when you are writing you may hit a wall if you try to wear too many hats at once. The optimal order for progress is:

1.       Madwoman / Madman Ideas stage: let loose and unleash your creativity.

2.       Architect Form stage: select content and arrange at paragraph level thinking.

3.       Carpenter Sequence stage: sentence structure, clarity, logic and grace.

4.       Judge Critic stage: analyse, proof and check details.

When my editor asked me which stage I was at, we both instinctively knew that this is a genuine issue I have. My madwoman shouts loud, but my inner judge usually shouts louder. Judges can interrupt and kill creativity. In my case, genetics and education have given me an eye for a typo and I constantly need to focus on the creative and structural processes. On bad days, my inner judge is quite mean, but over time she has also become my friend. I’m the repeat offender on first name terms with the magistrate, rolling our eyes together at my latest writing mistake.

My madwoman is often dancing in the background too. How do I keep her happy? I write ideas down. I indulge her occasionally. Embrace a bit of nonsense. If God can create duck-billed platypuses duck billed platypi giraffes, I have permission to think outside the box too.

Writing practice means that the forming and sequencing stages need not be too painful or drawn out. And I would certainly add that having an open mind cushions the ego when changes need to be made.

Maybe, like me, you find it painful to finish a sentence without checking for errs errors. You may also, like me, find it hard just to wear one hat at a time. You might have written so many essays, articles or chapters that you know how to jump to Carpenter stage, having had a super idea you need to share with the world instantly.

That’s great. But perhaps there is still merit in breaking your process down and allowing yourself to wear each hat one at a time.

1.       Have I been creative enough? Is there more I could or should bring to this piece?

2.       Have I considered how to structure the overall shape? Does it work?

3.       Can I put over my writing beautifully and clearly? Does it flow?

4.       What faults can I spot and repair as I revisit my writing, before it goes to a wider audience?

I am very grateful to Amy Boucher Pye for bringing this to my attention and to my editor Amy Scott Robinson who reminded me of it. The method keeps me sane and works as a useful checklist.

And now I am mostly at Judge stage. I do keep finding little elements to tweak at a bigger level, but the process is organic and iterative and that’s ok too. As long as I'm not wearing all of the hats, all of the time.

Lucy Marfleet loves reading, laughing, her husband’s cooking, walking her dog and marvelling at how tall the kids are getting. She teaches Biblical Studies for Spurgeon’s College on their Equipped to Minister course and has a Masters in Theology from the International Baptist Theological Seminary. See her blog at www.lucymarfleet.com

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