Word count: 202 words
Reading time: Less than 1 minute
I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. Today’s comes from Aaron Sorkin.
My son and I were huge fans of the TV show The West Wing. We’ve watched all 154 episodes, twice. (Truthfully, I think my son has probably seen them all three times by now.)
Recently — I wish I could remember where, and I deeply regret not noting the source — I read an interview with Sorkin, in which he spoke about writing. I found his comment, which was a metaphor piled upon another metaphor, so funny, I think I snorted tea out of my nose.
Here is what he said….
If it’s not going well, (meaning, his writing) Miss America could be standing there in a swimsuit handing me a Nobel Prize and I wouldn’t be happy about it.
This, of course, is pure hyperbole. I imagine he’d be delighted to be handed a Nobel Prize by Miss America, regardless of the state of his writing. But it’s a funny turn of phrase that perfectly captures the angst we all feel when we want or need to write and simply can’t.
And, frankly, I can’t imagine Sorkin ever having difficulty writing.
