Discussion → Meandering

• 
  Mike Young

  Oct 19, 11:38pm

  
  

  So we all know about this first sentence hook idea, right? "On the day Bob Spooflemuff died, I was waxing my rollerblades." But what about a nice introduction? A sort of meander? Can a whole story meander? What is good meandering? Me and her? Have you ever thought of a story model based on a conversation between two strangers in which one stranger is constantly trying to leave but can't seem to can't quite get away from the speaker's implorement? Does this mean you're talking to a crazy person? When did you see your first dead body?

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• 
  Edward Mullany

  Oct 20, 07:24pm

  
  

  It's possible that every successful story is an exercise in meandering, as it's only by meandering that a writer discovers what his or her story's about. To not meander is to risk predictability. At the same time, the meandering impulse must be tempered by an awareness of what's already on the page. If a writer doesn’t allow what he's already written to influence what he's about to write, then he fails to recognize the essential unity of the story as an art form, and it's likely that the final result will be less a story than a stream-of-consciousness spiel.

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