Story building: It’s like a stack of boxes, says Damon Knight. From base to apex:

Impetus: Why do you want to write this story? What inside you is trying to get out?

Idea

Materials – characters, background, setting, etc.

Form

Surface – what the reader sees, the sentences and words.

If your story isn’t working, find the earliest level where it fails, and fix that.

#shortfiction