An Armature and a Block Walk into a Bar: Smack Dab in the Imagination by Dia Calhoun

An armature and a marble block walk into a bar--oops, make that my writer's imagination stealing metaphors from sculpture. Some sculptors start with a block of marble and chip away to find the shape waiting in the block. Others create an armature out of metal, for example, and then pack on clay to build up the shape.

In a recent discussion about finding the shape of a story or poem (not in a bar!) one writer described her process as the armature method of building up a sculpture. I realized my own process is the block method. I feel the whole story is hidden in the block waiting for me to find it. My job is to set it free.

If I were writing a story from an outline, the armature process would make more sense to me. I never begin with an outline, more of an idea. I don't know what my story or poem is until my imagination uses the tools and engages with the actual materials--the words, the specifics of details, characters, actions.

However, in later drafts, once I have the story into a shape, my process changes to the armature method. I have my structure, so I start adding a bit more muscle to the bicep, more depth to the eyes. An action here, a detail or scene there. Now I'm molding the clay.

What are you? An armature or a block? Contemplating this metaphor can help you understand your writing process better, and how you might augment it by trying the other approach.

Now let me buy you a drink . . .