I enjoy puzzles. Crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, number puzzles, word puzzles like the one at the end of this posting. As a kid I loved a game now sold as Tangoes or Tangrams. It may have been called one of those when I was a kid, too. In the game, you figure out what combination of geometric shapes will form each overall silhouette depicted in the pamphlet.
Writing a novel, I have come to understand, is yet another puzzle to play with. In the initial drafting, I thought I’d figured out the puzzle. Now, in the revision process, I have “hit a wall” and I’ve been getting frustrated and a tad angry. My whole attitude turned around when I realized this was just another puzzle. Now I’m having fun again.
This explains why I enjoyed editing for so many years, and then company management, too. Everything’s a puzzle to be solved. Some games have more rules than other games, but it’s all a puzzle in some form or other. If you think you don’t enjoy puzzling, take a look at the things you do enjoy. I’ll bet there’s some kind of problem solving in there, and you’re enjoying it.
(Good luck, by the way, with the below. I’ve misplaced the answer, though I did work it through at the time. Honest. Give yourself several hours… A big thank you to my brother Bob for scanning the page on my timeline instead of his.)
