In the last post, I tried to compare shaping a story to focusing a camera, beginning, say, close up to a person or place and then pulling back to show the context or wider setting.
You could also do the reverse, as above: there's a stone patio, a stone wall and dense trees beyond. What sort of place is this? What might happen here? Then move in a little closer:
The wall is carefully crafted, hand-built, hmm . . . who built it? Why is it important? And if you go closer:
Well, well, well . . . look what was there amid those stones all along. Is that critter the subject of the story or a sign of . . . what?
Guess you've got to write the story to find out . . .
Mm?
xx
