I’ve often said writing a novel is like running a marathon, but I’m beginning to think it’s more like making a jigsaw puzzle: The charge of the first draft is to get the pieces all laid out on the table, face-up, so you can see what’s there. The trick of 
subsequent drafts is to get them all fitted together into a picture everyone can see — trying a piece in this place and that, and fashioning new little pieces for the ones that turn out to be missing from the box.
Then you smooth the edges so no one can see them–which admittedly you don’t do for a jigsaw puzzle.
In any event do not–do not–break your novel up into little pieces and stick it back in the box for someone else to make again, either. (Or maybe you do? Is that what editing is?)
Some other “writing a novel is like” analogies:
Stephen King: “Writing a novel is like paddling from Boston to London in a bathtub. Sometimes the damn tub sinks. It’s a wonder that most of them don’t.”
E.L. Doctorow: “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights but you can make the whole trip that way.”
Dean Koontz: “Writing a novel is like making love, but it’s also like having a tooth pulled. Pleasure and pain. Sometimes it’s like making love while having a tooth pulled.”
Chang-rae Lee: “Writing a novel is like spelunking. You kind of create the right path for yourself. But, boy, are there so many points at which you think, absolutely, I’m going down the wrong hole here.”
What is writing a novel really like? I fear the correct answer is (g) All of the above. What do you think? – Meg
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Writing a novel is like watching your children grow: it happens slowly, imperceptibly, in days of great joy and great tedium, until one day it walks out the door, taking a big piece of you with it.
Mac Clayton recently posted..Golf Buddy
I love the jigsaw puzzle comparison; it’s one of the best I’ve heard in a while! I’m about to start a new book and since I’m at the research phase I feel like I’m just barely starting to pull the pieces out of the box. I’m excited to turn them face up and see how they all come together.
Meg~
I think the jigsaw puzzle concept is exactly what I’ve needed! I have been soooo overwhelmed laying everything out, not to mention how many times I’ve put it back in the box…(sigh). I’ve assembled gazillions of those puzzles over the years…a perfect analogy for me!
Mac~
Totally love your comment…especially the last part: until one day it walks out the door, taking a big piece of you with it.
M Kathy Brown recently posted..Birth Order Funk
Writing is like knitting a sweater. You knit each section one stitch at a time, whether you work on it for hours every day, or just whenever you can find a few spare minutes. At the end, you have to seam all the pieces together, weave in the ends where they won’t show, and block the finished product into shape before you can wear it.
Anita M. King recently posted..Creating Characters I Don’t Hate (and Hopefully You Won’t Either) Part 2
Love the sweater analogy, Anita. And the research=taking the pieces out of the box.
And Mac, that is lovely.
I compared it to a sandwich recently, at least the plotting part. Here: http://stephaniehayeswrites.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-make-plot-also-sandwich.html
I think I’m just obsessed with food.