conversation he’d had with Anna the day before.” A more subtle way to
VLJQDODÀDVKEDFNLVZLWKDFKDQJHLQYHUEWHQVH²IURPWKHSUHVHQWWHQVH
to the past or the simple past to the past perfect.Stories within Stories
z Although some scenes are just small bursts of drama that can be
truncated or incomplete, most of the weight in a narrative is carried by
fully dramatized scenes with a beginning, middle, and end. These major
scenes are basically small stories within the larger story.
z Even if a major scene couldn’t stand alone outside the context of the
whole narrative, it should have the structure of a simple story. Earlier,
we discussed fractals, the mathematical concept of a pattern that repeats
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scene should reproduce the structure or plot of the larger narrative, but
it helps to remember that any story made of scenes is basically made of
smaller stories.
Catton, 7KH/XPLQDULHV.
Gardner, 7KH$UWRI)LFWLRQ.
Hynes, 7KH/HFWXUHU¶V7DOH.
———, Next.
———, 7KH:LOG&RORQLDO%R.
Munro, “The Beggar Maid.”
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