Writing with patterns

Writing is all about finding and using patterns we discover from life. Even the tropes we find in literature probably started off in human experience.

• Experience: A writer experiences a moment that feels significant.
• Observation: They take special notice the moment and think about its meaning.
• Extraction: They extract the core pattern that defines the experience.
• Application: The writer later applies the pattern to a story with different (but similar) elements.
• Recognition: The reader recognizes the significance of the moment because they too have experienced something similar.

Of course it doesn’t stop there. Once the pattern gets extracted from reality, it starts to take on a life of its own.

• Recording: Someone records a significant moment in words, images, or video.
• Refining: They might try to heighten the meaning with structural changes.
• Copying: The pattern might become a trope as people copy the pattern from one story to another.
• Alteration: Writers make changes to the pattern to alter the meaning slightly.
• Subversion: Authors subvert expectations by breaking the pattern.

My sister has a high-energy dog that will swarm anyone who comes by licking their hands (as if expecting a treat). It is not untrained–it is badly trained. So, anytime I walk near this dog I have to hold my hands in the air or stick them in my pockets.

She also has a tiny dog who is STARVED for affection but has given up on anyone ever petting her. So I try very hard to pet her while blocking the other dog. She looks thrilled when I can manage it, but I can only manage a few pats before the other dog gets in the way.

And this can make for a pattern one can reuse in a story. One sibling is always the center of attention. Another sibling is accustomed to being ignored. The love interest comes along and notices the shy, retiring sibling and struggles to get some time alone. There you go. This one little moment with a pair of dogs can be applied to the plot to a whole book.