Are You A Fox Or A Hedgehog?

How your approach to challenges affects your output

The Greek poet Archilochus wrote, ‘the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.’ In the 50s, the philosopher Isiah Berlin used this idea to talk about people’s approaches to life: looking at something in-depth, or being drawn to lots of different ideas.

Foxes are cunning. As such, if they’re faced with something difficult, they’ll have a variety of ways to get around it. For creatives, that might mean being curious or inquisitive about different arts. It could also mean approaching something like writing or creating from a number of different perspectives.

On the other hand, hedgehogs are more, well, streamlined. Danger? Roll into a ball. Loud noise? Roll into a ball. In this analogy, because the hedgehog does the same thing over and over, it gets really good at it. From writing to painting, the hedgehog is going to specialise in one particular form and do it over and over again until they perfect it.

I’m definitely a fox. When I started ‘seriously’ writing I did an MA at City University in writing novels. It was a great course (unfortunately it doesn’t exist anymore) because it meant I had to write a whole book in order to pass. I had the structure, the deadlines and the impetus to get a book written. Fabulous. I’d spent so much of my life reading and was absolutely sure I was going to spend years and years honing my craft and becoming the next Margaret Atwood/Ali Smith/Maggie O’Farrell (well, maybe not that good).

The thing is, books take a long time to write. And publishing them? Well, that can take even longer. While I absolutely loved the process of getting to know characters really well, plotting a massive project, trying out different voices and creating scenes, it was also really hard to stay motivated when it would be such a long time until I was actually finished.

I find it hard not to get distracted by the next, shiny pretty thing…

So, I decided to start writing short stories. And reading them. I realised how experimental and fun it could be to try out different forms. It was also great to have a sense of achievement in completing something. I started sending them off, getting them published, even winning competitions. If I had stayed as a hedgehog, I wouldn’t have discovered a whole other tyop of writing.

There are, of course, drawbacks. In the last ten years since I finished my MA I’ve published a load of short stories, flash pieces, self-published an editing book and a novel. I’m currently submitting and editing a memoir. Had I picked just one of these, I would have had time to really focus on making them great. I can’t deny that there have been times I’ve wished I could be a little more prickly and just stay focused on one thing.

I spoke to the wonderful Julie Myerson during the Geneva Writers’ Conference last weekend and I hope she won’t mind me telling you that she is a definite hedgehog. She told me how she has just written, over and over, book after book after book. She’s published eleven books altogether, won lots of prizes and is incredibly well regarded. This was who I was going to be! Alas, I realised that it just isn’t in my nature, and I have to accept my bushy tail and the way I’m drawn to new things.

Today, you’ll find my schedule has everything from writing posts, planning workshops, looking for funding, drafting stories, books and sending stuff out. I’m definitely still in fox territory. But I suppose there must have been elements of hedgehog in there, otherwise I wouldn’t have stuck the MA out and finished the book. I wouldn’t have carried on sending my book out again and again, so it could finally be published last year.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m more of a magpie, looking at the next shiny thing and putting it in my nest. Last month I bought an engraving pen (as yet unused) and this morning I started my day with an entry in my art journal rather than my morning pages. It can be tiring to have your concentration pulled this way and that, struggling to know which of your projects to focus on.

But I can’t help who I am. While I’ve definitely learnt to focus far better since my school days, I’m happy that I’ve been able to try out so many different things over the years. I’ve sacrificed being more of an expert, but I think this fox is happy in its den.

Acceptance is often what’s needed to be content…

How about you? Are you a fox or a hedgehog? Which would you like to be and why?

Thanks for reading and hope to hear from you.