Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Blast from the OA past: Spinning a Story



A spider begins a web with a frame. It takes time to create the structure. Sometimes it seems like no progress is being made. That it will never be strong enough to be usable. But the spider is clever. The spider knows what makes the web stronger is the detail.

It travels round and round. Spinning the silk into the shape it needs, but knowing the truth can't be seen until the end. But it still works. Detail after detail. Hour after hour. A spider may falter, but it never gives up. It rests and returns to work.

We spin our story in the knowledge that it could fall apart at any moment. We push on with the fine thread of our plot, layering it with the detail we need. Until the day we step back and (hopefully) reveal something beautiful. The structure holds it together, but the power is all in the details. The details catch the reader in our story web.

What stage are you at spinning your story right now? 

2 comments:

Katrina L. Lantz said...

My current story weaving stage is the beginning of the spiral, after finishing the frame. It's an exciting, anxious phase because I never know how it's going to turn out.

Katrina L. Lantz said...

My current story weaving stage is the beginning of the spiral, after finishing the frame. It's an exciting, anxious phase because I never know how it's going to turn out.