Bury your story, right?

[cantdog]

There's a similar technique in songwriting. You show the action, and the results of the action, but you don't reflect on the consequences - you let the reader do the reflecting. Dylan's 'Blowing in the Wind' is a similar technique. Pose questions without answers, and let the listener fill in the blanks.

The flashfic thread is a recent example of my pedestrian attempt at this technique. In 100 words, I set up a situation with the potential for an undesirable conclusion, but left it up to the reader to decide what would happen. This, hopefully, would make the reader ponder issues like personal responsibility and integrity (probably the wrong theme for a site like LIT.)

I much prefer a story that makes the reader think, but that's not always the goal of the LIT reader. Good for you if you can pull it off (hopefully better than I did!)

(OT - I wish more AH'ers would contribute to the flashfic thread. It's fun! It's quick! And there's no mess to clean up afterwards!)

Yeah, well. I find the thread tedious.

 

[TE999]

I wrote what some would consider a 'pro-gun' story "Out Of Range", however I was merely trying to portray the other side of the 'anti-gun' debate in the context of everyday life.

The principal characters were lesbian lovers and I (mistakenly as it turns out) put it in Erotic Couplings cat so as not to make the lovers the principal theme.

It sank like a stone, never reaching above 4.20 with low vote count and views.

The movie producer Sam Goldwyn once remarked about movies with a 'message', "If you want to deliver a message send a telegram."

Words to live by.

 

[maggot420]

Yeah, well-- don't stop on my account.

It's not my ass that you make twitch, darling

 

[voluptuary_manque]

It's not my ass that you make twitch, darling

No, but depending on what's in her hand, it could be what she's aiming at.