>Mistake Number 11

> Don’t Forget Stimulus and Response. Things happen for a reason. People act for a reason. If they do something its because there was a stimulus; if there is a stimulus, there should be a reaction.

“The law of stimulus and response works at the nitty-gritty level of fiction, line to line, and it also works in melding larger parts of the story. For every effect, a cause. A domino does not fall for no immediate reason; it has to be nudged by the domino next to it.”

True enough. But this has to be done carefully, because while necessary steps can’t be left out, not all steps are necessary. Stimulus and Reaction, yes. Minute stage direction, no.

#11 Don’t Forget Stimulus and Response

About the author

I am the author of three novels--THE LAST BIRD OF PARADISE, OLIVER'S TRAVELS, and THE SHAMAN OF TURTLE VALLEY--and three story collections--IN AN UNCHARTED COUNTRY, HOUSE OF THE ANCIENTS AND OTHER STORIES, and WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. I am also the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine and the editor of the award-winning anthology series EVERYWHERE STORIES: SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET.

Comments

  1. >Very important to remember…and hopefully you’ll have some great suggestions along those lines for Bones of an Inland Sea.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.