Thanks for the Snowflake link. When reading a novel, I sometimes try the reverse to crystallize my memory of the story. I imagine summarizing a page with a sentence, then a chapter with a sentence, then the book.
Same. And actually, having used this method without knowing it had a name, I can say it’s a great way to write. Crystals grow naturally, but distillation is laborious.
Creating Short Fiction by Damon Knight changed the way I write—it puts special emphasis on being able to clearly state, in a sentence or two, precisely what your story is about. And there’s hardly a better way to find out than to know at the outset!
