Thinking Inside the Box

 

I was listening to a well-respected mystery writer talking about how writers needed to think outside the box. The term makes me cringe. The first time I heard it was in the 80s. Businesses were making a huge effort to convince all of us that we need to think outside the box when most of them hadn't bothered finding out what was in the box, to begin with. 

While it started with businesses trying to approach problems in new and creative ways. Now it has been applied to every aspect of our lives. Even elementary school children are being badgered to think outside the box before they have even learned what the box holds.

I don't object to the idea of brainstorming ways to solve a problem. I find objectionable the colossal waste of time this practice is when we haven't exhausted the possibilities inside the box. Doctors refer to this as looking for zebras. They teach medical students to look for the obvious first. Once you have ruled out all the common ailments, then start looking for the more unusual ones.

You might wonder why I'm talking about inside-the-box thinking for writers. After all, we are supposed to be creative. Our plots take all kinds of twists and turns. This is why readers pick up our books. 

But here's the thing, the story needs to make sense. The writing doesn't need funky punctuation, new and different spellings of names, experimental structure. Tell the story. Tell it well. Take your readers into your world with the words you use. The journey can be as wild and imaginative as you wish, filled with layers of secrets and deception. Keep your readers guessing until the very end. 

We have an incredible toolbox of language, grammar, style, structure, and plot. There is no good reason to throw away what is in our toolbox and go looking for a new tool when most of us are still learning to write with the tools we have.