this is a hard one:
all that matter is plot / threads, to some extent
all that matters is what happens on the surface
then what's below you don't do
the reader does that
on her own
but what's so hard is creating a surface such that the reader can do that on her own
without unseemly / insulting / unbeautiful prodding from the author
it's fine to tell the reader what to think in polemical writing, or in certain non-fiction writing -- i do that
in storytelling, it is actually a little bit fascistic. it's thought control. if that's why you're in storytelling--because you have some idea of the world you want to freight onto others, rather than some feeling or experience you want to impart (and let them do with what they will--fuck you and your bullshit expositional stories. it's why you write badly: there is a gnawing cancer of darkness at the heart of your enterprise (also, relatedly, it means you don't have any craft)
"inspiration"
it may not be this one but you want to do one long post about that
about finding the shape of the thing in the mists
your starting anecdote is the pic of the figuring from Nat Geo
two years carried around
an idea of it somewhere
but don't push it..."maybe it is not a thing" in this version / tablet
then this idea for the skipstone, how it works in the story
then after months and months,
night before crystallizations
doing something else walking to the bathroom
look at it think "yeah ha that little thing I wonder when"
BOOM
it's the convergence of seemingly independent ideas
and let me be VERY CLEAR i'm not mystifying this or saying something uncanny or remarkable in that way has happened
it pisses me off when people do that in fact, makes me mad
because it's ultimate solipsism:
THIS IS LITERALLY ALL IN YOUR HEAD AND YOU THINK IT SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT THE UNIVERSE THAT IT'S CONNECTED? RUFKM
but
it's a useful and valuable and profound thing in storytelling
reducing it all to the small set of things
because then it is manageable and can be told effectively
and i really just don't know how to speed it up.
emergence is still good you still have emergence
everything is everywhere <-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> disagreeing with Emily's post: yes, emergence
but risk here --> lack of clarity. cuz you are STARING AT THE MAP WITH THE PATH RUNNING THROUGH IT.
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">total process things that wind up affecting your work a lot,
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">for example
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> purple turns out to be a great color-coding for these threads that weave through the narrative
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> orange is great for
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> and red good for answers, but...
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> d'ya see the problem? a phrase
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">a lot of this -- how and why i'm writing about it -- relates to a strong prior of mine that in everything EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING
i give truly approximately 0 shits about your concept; the fact that you've "always had this idea for a story" (let me be clear: if i like/know you, i might give many shits! i say that stuff, as well! i mean qua writing and assessment of work)
interesting how parallel this is for entrepreneurship
EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING
AND PROCESS/WORK IS EXECUTION
there's a realm of native ability, trained expertise, external support (helpful, not; timely, not); etc. but i can't really touch those things -- i guess maybe 'trained expertise' you can, through practice. but even that, at any given moment X is... [yeah you can so get rid of it]
all that matter is plot / threads, to some extent
all that matters is what happens on the surface
then what's below you don't do
the reader does that
on her own
but what's so hard is creating a surface such that the reader can do that on her own
without unseemly / insulting / unbeautiful prodding from the author
it's fine to tell the reader what to think in polemical writing, or in certain non-fiction writing -- i do that
in storytelling, it is actually a little bit fascistic. it's thought control. if that's why you're in storytelling--because you have some idea of the world you want to freight onto others, rather than some feeling or experience you want to impart (and let them do with what they will--fuck you and your bullshit expositional stories. it's why you write badly: there is a gnawing cancer of darkness at the heart of your enterprise (also, relatedly, it means you don't have any craft)
"inspiration"
it may not be this one but you want to do one long post about that
about finding the shape of the thing in the mists
your starting anecdote is the pic of the figuring from Nat Geo
two years carried around
an idea of it somewhere
but don't push it..."maybe it is not a thing" in this version / tablet
then this idea for the skipstone, how it works in the story
then after months and months,
night before crystallizations
doing something else walking to the bathroom
look at it think "yeah ha that little thing I wonder when"
BOOM
it's the convergence of seemingly independent ideas
and let me be VERY CLEAR i'm not mystifying this or saying something uncanny or remarkable in that way has happened
it pisses me off when people do that in fact, makes me mad
because it's ultimate solipsism:
THIS IS LITERALLY ALL IN YOUR HEAD AND YOU THINK IT SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT THE UNIVERSE THAT IT'S CONNECTED? RUFKM
but
it's a useful and valuable and profound thing in storytelling
reducing it all to the small set of things
because then it is manageable and can be told effectively
and i really just don't know how to speed it up.
emergence is still good you still have emergence
everything is everywhere <-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> disagreeing with Emily's post: yes, emergence
but risk here --> lack of clarity. cuz you are STARING AT THE MAP WITH THE PATH RUNNING THROUGH IT.
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">total process things that wind up affecting your work a lot,
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">for example
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> purple turns out to be a great color-coding for these threads that weave through the narrative
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> orange is great for
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> and red good for answers, but...
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing=""> d'ya see the problem? a phrase
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">
<-- all="" brain="" but:="" emergence="" magical="" my="" not="" p="" some="" thing="">a lot of this -- how and why i'm writing about it -- relates to a strong prior of mine that in everything EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING
i give truly approximately 0 shits about your concept; the fact that you've "always had this idea for a story" (let me be clear: if i like/know you, i might give many shits! i say that stuff, as well! i mean qua writing and assessment of work)
interesting how parallel this is for entrepreneurship
EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING
AND PROCESS/WORK IS EXECUTION
there's a realm of native ability, trained expertise, external support (helpful, not; timely, not); etc. but i can't really touch those things -- i guess maybe 'trained expertise' you can, through practice. but even that, at any given moment X is... [yeah you can so get rid of it]