Query

David Stockhoff · 05 Mar 2010, 22:57 · from 2010-March.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:57:33 -0500
Subject: (urth) Query
In-Reply-To: <mailman.44117.1267824506.1573.urth-urth.net at lists.urth.net>
References: <mailman.44117.1267824506.1573.urth-urth.net at lists.urth.net>
Message-ID: <4B918C5D.9000507 at verizon.net>

Which explains a lot of literary fiction ...

I've always followed this particular piece of advice. Some authors talk about letting their characters find their way (Le Guin for example), but that doesn't work for me. 

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Message: 6
Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 13:09:40 -0800 (PST)
From: Jerry Friedman <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com>
To: The Urth Mailing List <urth at lists.urth.net>
Subject: Re: (urth) Query
Message-ID: <513638.99613.qm at web50705.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

--- On Fri, 3/5/10, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote:
...


> > 3. Start with the ending of your story and then slowly work
> > backwards
> > to how you got there. That way your plot will tend to lead
> > to a
> > satisfactory end. For example, a Cinderella is a poor girl
> > who marries
> > a prince. How do they meet? Well, maybe he has this shoe
> > and he is
> > going to marry the girl it fits? Well, why should it fit
> > her? etc.
>   

That's interesting because it's exactly what some critics
and educators on literary fiction tell you not to do.

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