Inside the Writing Life: Of Puzzles and Gardens

A little while back, I mentioned having a liking for puzzles, of the crossword, Number Cruncher, and Codecracker variety. In terms of resolving the puzzles, several qualities are helpful, including a good general knowledge, word knowledge, and a facility with patterns in both the word and number-based varieties.

Puzzle time again…

With crossword puzzles, the ability to think laterally is also helpful. Very often, the solution may lie in an alternative meaning or usage, so it’s important to keep questioning whether there’s another possibility.

All too often, alas, I find myself treading the path of chagrin as well, because I’m so busy considering alternatives, particularly the less well-known ones, that I miss the obvious. So obvious, in fact, that I’m reluctant to give an actual example, because it’s, you know, pretty embarrassing… 😀

Whether genuinely gnarly, though, or simply a case of me missing the blindingly obvious, I like to complete the puzzle without resorting to external help. For example, reaching for the dictionary or thesaurus, or searching for answers to crossword clues on the internet. (Yes, “of course” they’re out there!)

I dunno, it just feels a tad like cheating, yanno…

So when the final clue, or final few, prove elusive and/or vexatious, I’ll set the conundrum aside and do something else. Writing the book, obviously, if it’s a lunch or coffee break puzzle, but going for a walk is a great way of shaking a new perspective loose.

Gardening is also another great circuit breaker, because while the hands are busy the mind can run its puzzle-solving programme in the background, frequently delivering eureka moments. Very often, as aforementioned, with considerable chagrin when realizing that the solution finally reached should have been the first option considered: O-o!

Gardening, always a great circuit breaker.

Sometimes it’s not even a case of “not seeing the woods for the trees.” It’s more a case of not even seeing the tree immediately before me because I’m so close to the trunk that all I see is the infinite variety of the bark.

Consequently, learning to step back and consider the options more widely, is another great puzzle solving skill.

Looking for the wider vista

Perhaps not surprisingly, because unraveling plots and illuminating characters can also have puzzle-like propensities, all these skills are not only applicable, but necessary to writing as well.

And yes, all too often I experience chagrin in that context as well, when a difficult bout of story wrangling ends with my realizing that the solution is blindingly obvious. And that if I hadn’t been staring so hard at the detail of the bark, I might have spotted the giant tree right in front of me a little sooner.

Story wrangling…

And three times yes (and as I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned here before 😉 ) long walks and digging in the dirt, out in the daylight and fresh air, are great circuit breakers for writing conundrums as well. So, too, is just taking a break for a coffee and—if the deities of riddles, wordgames, and puzzles prove benevolent—a swiftly concluded puzzle. 😉

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