On the “A” Word

[Image: "Left-Hand Rule." For an explanation about something other than the subject of this post, see this page at the University of Maryland's Department of Physics site.]

…or: what It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World has to do with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

(Well, no, not really. The post started out to connect that movie and that book, and I may return to that intention at some point. But it morphed out from under me as I worked on it. In the meantime, one of the signal virtues of the Brain Pickings site, I think, are the “…or what [X] has to do with [Y]” subtitles on many posts. I’ve always wanted to do that; the opportunity presented itself; and, well…)

The RAMH regular who comments here as whaddayamean –short for her blog’s charming mouthful of a moniker, Whaddaya mean, do I have room for dessert? — has been mulling over The “A” Word. It is, of course, about. As in:

What’s your book about?

Now, wym (as I’ll call her for now) works in publishing, successfully so. She knows the relentless importance her profession places on categorization. (Genre, anyone?) And she knows she’s not the first writer to have had this question asked of her. It’s right up there with “Where do you get your ideas?” in popularity among writer-inquisitors.

But when someone recently asked her what her own book is about, she all but stammered in reply.

I read from the 150-word summary I had prepared for my writing group… I ticked off the emotional arcs I want my characters to follow, described the world I wanted to build, enumerated events I plan to have recur and snowball… I explained my inspiration, how I’ve been carrying this story around since I was five years old, how it’s grown bigger and less manageable over the course of my life and how I need to get it down before it’s too late.

None of those were good enough. Luckily, wym had a bathroom to stomp off to when the questioner became too persistent. (I picture her locked in there, kicking the side of the tub, stifling a howl and hopping on the remaining undamaged foot as a cheap way at the time to change the subject on herself.) It’s not hard to share, vicariously, her sense of frustration. Sort of like, Jeezus. Do you want me to tell you the whole freaking story? Then SHUT, UP.

The whole back-and-forth resembled — in speech — the written exchanges which take place between querying (and often querulous) authors and queried (often ditto) agents. One agent says “When I say ‘query,’ I mean…”; another demurs, “No no no, what ‘query’ means to me is…”

Most people who ask the “A” question probably do so casually — just a way of making small talk, without wanting a lot of details. Indeed, wym’s friend didn’t want a lot of details; the answer with which wym finally satisfied him was probably the shortest answer of the several she’d offered. But wym’s friend didn’t want just any old answer. He wanted an answer framed in a particular way. Which might be summed up as: Complete this sentence: “My book is about…”

Sometimes when we’re out someplace with other people, on learning that I’m working on a novel, someone will ask me the “A” question. I sort of stare off into space for thirty seconds, trying to formulate an answer. The Missus, eager to keep things moving in some timeframe other than the geological, often answers for me. “It’s an updated telling of the King Arthur story,” she might say. ”You know, the quest, the Holy Grail — but with retirees instead of knights.” Which isn’t quite correct in the sense that wym’s friend seemed to prefer, but does seem to discourage further questions — which is all I really want to happen, anyway. But I honestly don’t know how how I’d have answered wym’s friend, regarding Seems to Fit.

…um…

……maybe, uh: “It’s about”—

Crap. Shouldn’t this be easy? (Do you want me to tell you the whole freaking story?!)

If you’re working on something right now, can you complete this fill-in-the-blank exercise? If you’re not working on something right now, can you pick a novel or other narrative you’ve read, and answer the “A” question? What’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about? Or It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World? *

Let’s give the last word on this to the late Billy Preston:

[Below, click Play button to begin Will It Go Round in Circles. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left -- a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 4:29 long.]

Lyrics:

Will It Go Round in Circles
(Billy Preston)

I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody
I’ma gonna sing it to my friends
I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody
I’ ma gonna sing it to my friends

[chorus:]
Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky
Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky

I’ve got a story, ain’t got no moral
Let the bad guy win every once in a while
I’ve got a story, ain’t got no moral
Let the bad guy win every once in a while

[chorus]

I’ve got a dance, I ain’t got no steps, no
I’m gonna let the music move me around
I’ve got a dance, I ain’t got no steps
I’m gonna let the music move me around

[chorus]

[instrumental break]

[chorus]

I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody
I’ma gonna sing it to my friends
I’ve got a song, I ain’t got no melody
I’ ma gonna sing it to my friends

[chorus]

________________

* Ha.