Banging And Swooping (And Fluffing)

I first encountered the word "fluffer" as a late teenager when I overheard it mentioned by my friends after a couple of hours of basketball (which at my current age and physical condition I can no longer play, darn it). Being the type to guess first the meanings of words before consulting a dictionary or anyone who might know, I thought of pillows, comforters, and a laundromat worker “fluffing” them. I even considered that the word was mispronounced and that the speaker meant to say "fluffier".

As my friends' conversation progressed, I learned that they were talking about "fluffers" in relation to a video that one of them had just watched. The person who had started the discussion brought out said video from his bag, the title of which I will not mention here. Suffice it to say that the title of the video contained the word "fluffers". He waved it in front of us, proud and giddy from all the attention, and that forthwith many listeners asked if they could borrow the video. An instant hit, and instant popularity for the video’s owner.

(If you're wondering what the fuss was about, click this link and check out the last definition on the web-page.)

Shifting gears...

The other side of the reading coin is, as can be surmised, writing. Which came first, the reader or the writer, is easier to answer than the chicken or egg riddle. If no one writes, then no one reads. There are real people of flesh and blood behind all those books and pieces we read. As readers, we often take for granted that the author behind the work put the best of himself and his efforts into the text. But just as there are different types of basketball players (shooters, penetrators, passers, rebounders, defenders, hitmen...er...enforcers), there must be different types of readers and writers too. Leaving the types of readers behind for this post, let's go into two types of writers.

After "fluffer", my expecations were no longer as unguarded when I later on learned of the words "Banger" and "Swooper". I still had--still have, actually--the habit of guessing the meanings of words, either outright or from context, before checking the dictionary for accuracy. I'd like to think I have a fair imagination, and having failed at guessing the real meaning of "fluffer", I allowed my mind to soar in wondering what a "Banger" and a "Swooper" is.

The meanings of these two words are not as mainstream as "fluffer", and won't be found on any online dictionary site. But according to Kurt Vonnegut (from “Timequake”), a "Banger" is a writer who focuses on each word, phrase, sentence, the minutiae of how they all work together to form a paragraph, a chapter, the story. Bangers carefully craft each word before moving on to the next. The pace is slow and careful, and mimicking glacial movement, there are many reverses before forward progress is made. I hope my memory serves me well, but I remember Elizabeth George Speare, author of "The Witch of Blackbird Pond", divulging in an interview that a good output for her would be about twelve words a day; sometimes more, sometimes less, but it comes to about twelve on the average. She also said that when she re-read her work at certain points and found her output wanting, she would erase several days’ worth of words and start over. Perhaps she was exaggerating, or I’m mis-remembering her interview, but at twelve words a day she definitely qualifies as a “Banger”.

"Swoopers", on the other hand, compose drafts quickly and then return to fill-in, add details, and rewrite, over and over again. They get everything out and then make colossal edits later on. Five, ten, twenty, maybe even thirty pages in one sitting is not unusual. It is easy to imagine writers of this type with their fingers flying across the keyboard, or their pens scribbling away at paper with the constant, scratchy sound of a large rat colony. "Writing in white heat, revising in cold blood" is the famous term related to swoopers. Think of Stephen King's output, and then think of how he once mentioned an author (whose name escapes me, I apologize) who kept to such an obsessive routine that, upon waking before dawn, he would proceed to peck away at his typewriter non-stop until it was time to leave for work. At day’s end, he would return home, have dinner, and then sit down again at his desk to write for hours more until it was time for bed. A daily routine, said Mr. King, and that this man's output dwarfs his own.

These real definitions of the words "Banger" and "Swooper", compared to what my mind originally came up with because of "fluffer", ended up as a bit of a letdown.

I think that for most of us, we are a mixture of both, sometimes even within the same piece. It is more often the ponderous "banging" that we labor at, squeezing what we can from our skill. But I also believe that everyone has experienced at one time or other, though also more seldomly, the "swooping" sensation of trying to keep up with the flow of words that gushes forth in volumes. Returning to basketball--and those of you who play this sport, or any other sport for that matter, know this--there are times when every shot you release just seems to find the basket, or that you always seem to be in the right place and the right time to snag that crucial rebound; being "in the zone", if you will, as is famously stated by sportscasters. Any errors and miscues don’t matter because your positive contributions far outweigh them. But even if you aren't "in the zone", which is the case more often than not, it won't stop you from grinding out with both will and exertion a game as excellent as if you were; and only a few, yourself included, would know the difference. Skill and inspiration help, but in no way diminishes the value of studious effort.

Now, whether the "banged" or "swooped" piece is of quality and value, or is simply fun "fluff", to use another meaning of the word (check out noun definition #3 of the American Heritage Dictionary entry on this link), is another matter altogether. You can “bang” or “swoop” your piece, but you just might also be “fluffing” it; not that, to my mind, this is such a bad thing, if such is your intention.

So, some food-for-thought: the next time you read a novel or a short story and wonder what pains the author took in writing it, you may consider whether it was banged or swooped, though the text may not reveal much because it will read the same either way. For the writers among you, you may also consider this the next time you're face-to-face with that blank sheet of paper or computer monitor: Am I a “banger”? Am I a “swooper”? And being one or the other, am I also a “fluffer”? And if “yes”, can I make a video of myself at work?