The “Body Builder” Writing Strategy: A metaphor in three stages …

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="1️⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 1" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 1"> Bulk
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="2️⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 2" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 2"> Cut
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="3️⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 3" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 3"> Tan

1/ Bulk: Offseason

Your only goal is to get as big as freakishly possible; inhuman carbolic intake + lift, lift, lift. Slam as many words, ideas, data, and sources as you can into an amorphous, bloated, ugly beast.

No points for style. Just size.

2/ Cut: Preseason

Now, starve yourself + cardio, cardio, cardio. With every pass, the aim is clarity. Widdle, remove, chop, eliminate, shorten, condense. Shape comes from structure (framing and organization) … not content.

Less is more. And it doesn’t count unless it hurts.

3/ Tan: Showtime

Finally, paint your chiseled features; not to add … but to accentuate what’s already there. Deepen the hues, trace the stark, yoked features you’ve bled over. Define the contours. Contrast the striations.

Examples, examples, examples, and application.

PS: Writers stumble the most in stage one. Give yourself the time and freedom to suck. Make unwieldy girth your sole objective. You’re not supposed to look good in the offseason. You’re just supposed to get f****** huge.

That raw material is the foundation of everything else.