Angry Like What??

Here are today’s Wonderful Words:

“Your speed and your smarts were never what made you who you are. It’s your anger…You used to run like you were angry at the grass. You’d kick the ball like you caught it fucking your wife…But that anger doesn’t come out anymore.”

Ted Lasso S1E7, Nate to Roy

Background

This was a line from Nate’s pre-game speech to the team before their match against Liverpool, a rival they hadn't beaten on the road in years. The speech worked to rally the team and re-ignite Roy’s anger. Immediately after the line, Roy ripped a bench from the locker room floor, let out a roar, and led the team to a victory.

What makes it wonderful?

These lines are excellent because they cut right to Roy’s core. We love his character because he is so angry. It’s what makes him great in the show, and, apparently, on the field. So it’s great because it’s true.

But it’s also great because it’s the most creative way to describe anger I’ve ever seen.

Nobody gets angry at grass. That’s absurd. But you can imagine the aggression of someone who does. He would attack it violently with his spikes as he tore down the turf after an opponent.

A soccer ball can’t fuck your wife. That’s absurd. But you can imagine how violently a man would kick a soccer ball if he caught it rolling around in the hay with his honey. That’s the same anger Roy unleashed on the ball.

Imagine if Nate had said something boring like, “Your anger used to make you great. You used to scare me, but I don’t see it anymore.”

The scene would’ve sucked. The team would’ve lost. And I wouldn’t be writing you this email.

Let's get technical

The writers of Ted Lasso used two awesome analogies when they wrote those lines:

• You used to run like you were angry at the grass.

• You’d kick the ball like you caught it fucking your wife.

An analogy is a comparison between two things with the purpose of explaining, not just painting a picture. This is a great explanation of analogy.

A simile is a simple comparison to paint a picture. Something like his face was red as a tomato. The point of that sentence is to tell you the color of the man’s face.

Analogies go deeper. You used to run like you were angry at the grass. It’s still a comparison, but it’s explaining exactly how angry Roy used to be.

So it seems two keys to wonderful writing are truth and creativity. Tell your readers something they know, and do it in a way they’ve never heard before—maybe using an analogy. They'll enjoy reading your writing as much as I enjoy watching Ted Lasso.

Happy writing,

Joe