Coffee Mug Theory

There was a song my elementary band teacher sang that went something like, "I'm a fine musician, I practice every day."

Anyone who plays an instrument knows the value of practice - that routine, that repetition, syncing the memory circuits with motor skills. You can practice thousands of hours over a lifetime, yet perfection is forever elusive.

I tried the whole rock band project in my 20s, and it's hard work. In the words of AC/DC, it's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.

Just like music, writing requires self-discipline in a relentless pursuit of improving the craft. In my day job as a newspaper reporter, I produce one or two stories per day. The more you write, the more automatic the muscle works.

I am itching to write more fiction in the evenings and resume the routine I had established in 2012-2013 when writing "Walter's Searchlight." However, the news writing muscle flexes much differently than fiction muscles - and my fiction muscles are downright flabby.

For another perspective on writing, let's digress a moment and consider the functional shape of a standard coffee mug. The mug is a vessel for hot liquid, and the handle belongs on the side of the mug so that you can hold the fucking thing while drinking.

If you were crafting a coffee mug, you wouldn't put the handle on the bottom or carve jagged edges around the rim. You would make a mug that allowed a human to drink from it, over and over.

Those who make enough mugs for enough years will be master mug makers.  If you can paint that functional coffee mug with green witches and mold a wart-covered handle, even better. Go ahead and dress up that mug. But if a person can't drink from the mug, then it is useless.

Which brings us back to writing. At its core, writing is the functional coffee mug that holds a message inside. That message might be a mind-blowing truth about the human condition. But if the reader can't consume the message, then it's time to make a new mug.

The same applies to music. Successful songs follow a formula because that blueprint is functional to an audience's enjoyment - and understanding - of the songs. A hit single has a hook and a catchy sing-along chorus. Without a hook and a catchy chorus, what do you have? Certainly not a functional vessel for delivering a musical message.

From music to writing to coffee mugs, it's all a matter of personal taste. But at the very core, these three things are vessels that carry something to consume. Build a solid vessel for your messages.