Twyla Tharp's Spine
Yesterday, I posted about finding your own spine as a writer -- your Big Why, your reason for doing what you do, that thing which keeps you upright and centered.
The concept of the spine comes from Twyla Tharp's book The Creative Habit. She's a dancer and choreographer, Ms. Tharp is, and she uses the metaphor of the spine to think about the organizing principle around which a particular dance is centered.
Listen, here's what she says (page 142-143 if you want to follow along in your hymnal):
The spine is the statement you make to yourself outlining your intentions for the work. You intend to tell this story. You intend to explore this theme. You intend to employ this structure. The audience may infer it or not, but if you stick to your spine the piece will work."
As an example, she talks about a dance she created for which the spine was Euripedes' The Bacchae. Now, when the dance was performed, there wasn't a person in the audience who could tell, but for Ms. Tharp it was the spine of the piece, the bit she returned to every time she felt herself going astray.
Here's an example from my own work.
The spine for one of my WIPs is this: A Small Boy in a Big World.
That's it. Simple. Maybe even cliche. But cliches are fine for spines, if they give you what you need.
For me, every time I get lost in the story, or am unsure how to approach a scene, I think: A Small Boy in a Big World and it roots me in tone, perspective, theme, point of view.
Think about your work in progress -- whether you are drafting or revising.
Can you identify the spine of that work?
P.S.-- I accidentally deleted all my responses to the comments below. It wasn't on purpose. Sorry about that. Sheesh.
The concept of the spine comes from Twyla Tharp's book The Creative Habit. She's a dancer and choreographer, Ms. Tharp is, and she uses the metaphor of the spine to think about the organizing principle around which a particular dance is centered.
Listen, here's what she says (page 142-143 if you want to follow along in your hymnal):
The spine is the statement you make to yourself outlining your intentions for the work. You intend to tell this story. You intend to explore this theme. You intend to employ this structure. The audience may infer it or not, but if you stick to your spine the piece will work."
As an example, she talks about a dance she created for which the spine was Euripedes' The Bacchae. Now, when the dance was performed, there wasn't a person in the audience who could tell, but for Ms. Tharp it was the spine of the piece, the bit she returned to every time she felt herself going astray.
Here's an example from my own work.
The spine for one of my WIPs is this: A Small Boy in a Big World.
That's it. Simple. Maybe even cliche. But cliches are fine for spines, if they give you what you need.
For me, every time I get lost in the story, or am unsure how to approach a scene, I think: A Small Boy in a Big World and it roots me in tone, perspective, theme, point of view.
Think about your work in progress -- whether you are drafting or revising.
Can you identify the spine of that work?
P.S.-- I accidentally deleted all my responses to the comments below. It wasn't on purpose. Sorry about that. Sheesh.