against casting tape fiction
Essays should be linear, that’s what makes it an essay. If you have a mosaic of paragraphs that can be shuffled in any order, that’s not an essay, those are notes, no matter how poetic the prose.
Sequence matters. Our mind works via cause-and-effect. Of course, there’s value to creating tension, by purposely time jumping, or by injecting subtle mys
... See moreThis act of “really looking” is deceptive. It requires an almost “unlooking” to see closely, a kind of defocusing. Because: We tend to see in groups, not details. We scan an image or scene for the gist, but miss a richness of particulars. I suspect this has only gotten worse in recent years as our Daily Processed Information density has increased, ... See more
Craig Mod • Looking Closely Is Everything
an experiment, start by cutting places where you label a character as “seeing” something in your story. Instead, write the details of what the character sees. If she sees a bird, describe the bird through her eyes. Just don’t tell us she’s seeing it. Qualifiers like “I think,” “We realize,” “She sees,” “He feels,” and “They hear” are other little f
... See moreSarah Selecky • Story Is A State of Mind: Writing and the Art of Creative Curiosity
Eliminate “we see” and “we hear.
Robert McKee • Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting
I’ve literally seen it all, and the worst thing, the thing that makes me want to blow my brains out, is: The secondhand experience is always better. The image is crisper, the view is keener, the camera angle and the soundtrack manipulate my emotions in a way reality can’t anymore. I don’t know that we are actually human at this point, those of us w
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