Gert Scholtz

6 years ago · 3 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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Madman - Architect - Carpenter - Judge

Madman - Architect - Carpenter - Judge

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We all have stories to tell. Yet, sometimes writing it is not so easy. We scribble a bit, then realize how clanky it sounds, delete and start again. After one or more attempts the same happens and we stop the effort. 

One way to get out of the muddle is to separate four thinking phases in writing. Betty Flowers explains how by distinguishing between four thinking hats that make writing easier:


 - Madman

 - Architect

 - Carpenter 

 - Judge

 

"What happens when you get stuck is that two competing energies are locked horn to horn, pushing against each other. One is the energy of what I'll call your madman. He is full of ideas, writes crazily and perhaps rather sloppily, gets carried away by enthusiasm or anger, and if really let loose, could turn out ten pages an hour.

The second is a kind of critical energy-what I'll call the judge. He's been educated and knows a sentence fragment when he sees one. He peers over your shoulder and says, 'That's trash!' with such authority that the madman loses his crazy confidence and shrivels up. You know the judge is right-after all, he speaks with the voice of your most imperious English teacher. But for all his sharpness of eye, he can't create anything.

So you're stuck. Every time your madman starts to write, your judge pounces on him. Of course this is to over-dramatize the writing process, but not entirely. Writing is so complex, involves so many skills of heart, mind and eye, that sitting down to a fresh sheet of paper can sometime seem like 'the hardest work among those not impossible,' as Yeats put it.

Whatever joy there is in the writing process can come only when the energies are flowing freely-when you're not stuck.

And the trick to not getting stuck involves separating the energies. If you let the judge with his intimidating carping come too close to the madman and his playful, creative energies, the ideas which form the basis for your writing will never have a chance to surface. But you can't simply throw out the judge. The subjective personal outpourings of your madman must be balanced by the objective, impersonal vision of the educated critic within you. Writing is not just self-expression; it is communication as well.

So start by promising your judge that you'll get around to asking his opinion, but not now. And then let the madman energy flow. Find what interests you in the topic, the question or emotion that it raises in you, and respond as you might to a friend-or an enemy. Talk on paper, page after page, and don't stop to judge or correct sentences. Then, after a set amount of time, perhaps, stop and gather the paper up and wait a day.

The next morning, ask your architect to enter. She will read the wild scribblings saved from the night before and pick out maybe a tenth of the jottings as relevant or interesting. (You can see immediately that the architect is not sentimental about what the madman wrote; she is not going to save every crumb for posterity.) Her job is simply to select large chunks of material and to arrange them in a pattern that might form an argument. The thinking here is large, organizational, paragraph level thinking-the architect doesn't worry about sentence structure.

No, the sentence structure is left for the carpenter who enters after the essay has been hewn into large chunks of related ideas. The carpenter nails these ideas together in a logical sequence, making sure each sentence is clearly written, contributes to the argument of the paragraph, and leads logically and gracefully to the next sentence. When the carpenter finishes, the essay should be smooth and watertight.

And then the judge comes around to inspect. Punctuation, spelling, grammar, tone, all the details which result in a polished essay become important only in this last stage. These details are not the concern of the madman who's come up with them, or the architect who's organized them, or the carpenter who's nailed the ideas together, sentence by sentence. Save details for the judge."


To summarize in other words, Flowers distinguishes four phases of writing.


Generate: Let the energy flow and write as much as you can with no judgement of the work.

Organize: Select the most promising chunks and organize them at the conceptual level.

Refine: Omit needless phrases and refine your work's overall logic, clarity, and flow.

Polish: Get down to small details, spellcheck and final polishing.


Next time you write, remember your Madman, Architect, Carpenter and Judge.

They are all part of your story.


"
#Judge #Madman #Betty Flowers #Carpenter #Architect
Comments

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #40

Cyndi wilkins "The imagination is your channel to the creative unconscious...Write away my friends...The only critic you need to conquer is your own." Well said - thanks Cyndi.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #39

#44
Cyndi wilkins You say it well Cyndi: "The imagination is your channel to the creative unconscious...Write away my friends...The only critic you need to conquer is your own." Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #38

#41
Joyce \ud83d\udc1d Bowen Brand Ambassador @ beBee Thanks for commenting and sharing Joyce. Perhaps the madman is what gives drive, energy and voice to your writing. Don't sit on him too much!:)

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #37

#42
Thanks for the tags Maria.

Cyndi wilkins

6 years ago #36

Kudos to anyone who dares face the judge without the fear of being judged...Intelligence itself does not create anything...The imagination is your channel to the creative unconscious...Write away my friends...The only critic you need to conquer is your own;-) Thanks for the invitation Gert Scholtz!

maria pilar pich pou ,MD

6 years ago #35

Ian Weinberg

maria pilar pich pou ,MD

6 years ago #34

saima khan

Joyce 🐝 Bowen Brand Ambassador @ beBee

6 years ago #33

I'm a great slasher of words--phrases less often. My madman is comfortably retained on the seat of my chair. I sit on it every day. Down Boy. If my madman manages to surface, I simply pluck myself from my seat and watch some TV. Nobody likes listening to your madman.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #32

#37
Jerry Fletcher Time and technology certainly has moved on! Yet these methods of Betty Flowers still hold. She was a Professor in English and clearly understood the creative mind and the analytical mind very well. Thanks for commenting Jerry.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #31

#35
Chas \u270c\ufe0f Wyatt I will watch for Cayote, as long as it is not Wile E Coyote :) Thanks Chas.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #30

#36
Thank you Liesbeth,

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #29

Geez Gert, You reminded me that I had a manual typewriter back in the day. Most of my craziest ideas were handwritten. You had to physically push the letters and the words onto the page. Then came the electric typewriter and then computers and then programs that track changes. Perhaps that is why we can now identify the madman, architect, carpenter and judge. Now, where did I put that pencil?

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

6 years ago #28

#25
you are the greatest bee Gert Scholtz

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #27

#29
Harvey Lloyd Thanks for commenting Harvey. Interesting thing is that a few centuries ago the average English sentence was fifty words. Today it is closer to fifteen words. The Judges were busy!

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #26

#30
Vincent Andrew Thanks Andrew - also for sharing the post. Looks like your madman and judge have an ongoing stand-off :)

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #25

#28
VDS Brink Thanks VDS. Yes, I think De Bono's six hats work along the same principles. Lekker skryf!

Harvey Lloyd

6 years ago #24

I am the original butcher of the English language. Certainly here of BeBee writing is a central theme. But the largest issue is communications in the broader sense. Even though i have an aversion to punctuation, i have witnessed the other end where folks cant just blurt out on the screen a free style of writing as each sentence becomes an epic journey. The idea in their writing gets lost in the diagraming of sentence structure. I loved the concept you presented. Thanks.

Lisa Gallagher

6 years ago #23

#24
You already know me too well Gert Scholtz lol. I just published a buzz. I know the architect should have went over this tomorrow but I was on a roll :)

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #22

#19
Ken Boddie And there I was, thinking that this post will appeal to the engineer in Boddie. All about project planning, deconstructing, reconstructing, schedules, overruns and final hand-over. Alas – I shall go and watch television as well and wait for the madman :)

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #21

Thanks for that Liesbeth. I think all four characters can actually take lessons from you!

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #20

#18
Lisa \ud83d\udc1d Gallagher Thanks for commenting and sharing Lisa. Good thing to let the architect think it over - only thing is - you are still awake when she is supposed to sleep it over :)

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

6 years ago #19

Gert Scholtz has a whole team that supports your story, take a look!

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

6 years ago #18

how sweet is this, so empowering!

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #17

#17
Brian McKenzie Thanks for stopping by Brian. Hope the madman has a good time off and the other three start consulting.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #16

#14
Judy Olbrych Thanks for your comments and for sharing Judy - glad you find it useful. What can I say? Let the madman stay mad for a while longer - the 28 rounds of edits my then be even more :)

Ken Boddie

6 years ago #15

Ok, Gert, so first I need a padded cell to work in, then some arty Sheila comes in with ten boxes of Lego and tells me, after I've opened then all up, that I can only use the contents of one. I'm now hopping mad after getting several pieces stuck in the soles of my bare feet, and then this practical builder guy fits then perfectly together into a Rubic Cube, before a legal fella tells me that government legislation demands he polish it with a feather duster. Needless to say the polishing costs me an arm and a leg and the dust sets off my hay fever. Then, to cap it all, these critics come along and pull the cube apart and I'm blowed if I can get it back together again. Stuff this! In off to watch TV.

Lisa Gallagher

6 years ago #14

Great advice! "Whatever joy there is in the writing process can come only when the energies are flowing freely-when you're not stuck." That's me lately. I love the idea of letting it sit over night and having the 'architect' look it over. That's something that may help me to improve because I can't ever seem to stick under 1000 words or more and when I re-read some of my writings, I think... wow- I could have left, 'this, that and THAT out."

Judy Olbrych

6 years ago #13

Save the details for the Judge - love this from Gert Scholtz.

Judy Olbrych

6 years ago #12

Save the details for the Judge - love this from Gert Scholtz.

Judy Olbrych

6 years ago #11

Yes, Gert Scholtz. It seems easier to tame and organize mad writings later than to inject life into dull text that's been carefully planned out (though I still tend to outline). Finding the madman is sometimes a problem - he often shows up late at night, after a road trip, or after a hike. When all else fails, I just give myself permission to write badly (there's almost nothing that about 28 rounds of editing can't fix). I had not heard the madman/architect/carpenter/judge comparison before and absolutely love it. Thanks! Looking up Betty Flowers now ...

Bill Stankiewicz

6 years ago #10

Cool buzz

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #9

#3
CityVP \ud83d\udc1d Manjit Always the one to embroider and enrich a post with your insightful views and added background - thanks for that Manjit and also for sharing the post.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #8

#4
Ian Weinberg The one you may be thinking of is how neural networks converge - this one is how neural pathways. diverge. But that might be my deja vu :)

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #7

#2
Paul Walters Well, that leaves two Madmen - one near the Pyrenees and one in Ireland :)

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #6

#1
Savvy Raj Glad you enjoyed it Savvy. Thanks for sharing.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #5

#1
Savvy Raj Thank you Savvy - glad you enjoyed it and thanks for sharing.

Pascal Derrien

6 years ago #4

I shall remember that unless I get stuck at the mad man stage which is a high possibility providing my sanity state :-)

Ian Weinberg

6 years ago #3

Seemed like I was traveling along some familiar neural pathways Gert Scholtz or was it just deja vu ?

CityVP Manjit

6 years ago #2

Time for a pun Gert. YOU NAILED IT !!! This is a very interesting way of looking at the process writing. The irony is that it is other people who tend to be the architects and carpenters. The testament of Jesus was assembled decades after his death, so was the thinking of Buddha and Confucius . Marshal McLuhan who did write like a madman, was first celebrated by Wired magazine and after architects and carpenters assembled his best thinking, people forget just how much drivel McLuhan also wrote - and such was the power and prescience of McLuhan's writings for the modern age, that portion of McLuhan is the one nearly everyone proclaims. One can go through the four phases that Betty Flowers came up with (and they are very instructive) and still be dogged by a fifth thinking hat - "The Undertaker" but saved by a Sxith mindset. Many a great writer will never appear in our consciousness because of time, circumstance, culture and geography. The undertaker here is the death of thinking, of great writing lost to history. That does not mean that an archeologist does not bring that story to the world again. Take the story of Ada Lovelace http://findingada.com/about/who-was-ada/ her story is an example of one that was going to be lost to history, until decades later it was excavated by the Archeologist (Sixth). This is the craziest thing about writers - you may celebrate those most well known today but they will be lost to history but not know of a writer among us that no one pays much attention to - but then is brought forth into historical context for a long time !!!

Paul Walters

6 years ago #1

Gert Scholtz here I be in the foothills of the Pyrenees, a perfect place to write. However, its summer here and the carpenter, judge and architect are as they say," en vacance" leaving just the madman! Also, Betty didnt seem to cover the issues of sloth and sloth and procrastination which I find thrives here! Great post as always !!

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