Writing & Fish: Which Fish Resembles Your Style?

 We visited the Boston Aquarium on Thursday. There an amazing array of fish sparked my imagination—especially the unicorn fish. This odd fish with the horn on the tip of his forehead looked surprisingly like a cantankerous old man.

That got me thinking. How are we writers like fish? Here’s my take:

cod go round and round and round

• Schooling fish: They school to play it safe. It’s hard to be devoured. However, they all look alike and are controlled by the one in the center of the school.
•  These are the genre writers. They follow the accepted guidelines of popular fiction. They find success and are ruled by the current leaders like Brandilynn Collins or James Scott Bell or Frank Peretti.

• Seahorses and Sea Dragons: They are monogamous and mate for life, but more distinct, the make bears the young.
• This crew puts a twist on the standard tried and true. Authors like Tosca Lee or Jeff Gerke may fall into this category.

• Mudskippers: Spend most of their time out of water and walk on their fins. Their eyes, peering above the water’s surface look like air bubbles.
•  These authors are non-traditional ones. They write speculative and have only recently been welcomed into the ranks of serious writers.

• Salmon: They have a pre-determined path to travel. Some trek over 2,000 to spawn.
• These are the outliners. They know where they want to go and how to get there. No dam or diverted stream will stop them.

  

  salmon--akin to outliners

• Octopi: They have no bones and are quite intelligent. With a treat hidden in a box, octopi can figure out how to open it. One, instead of opening the box, wormed his way inside. Without bones, they can fit anywhere.
• Here we have the SOTP. This crew will write its way into a box, wonder how it got there and then write its way out.

How about you? What fishy writing habits define your life?