selection

Can you select the right things to be in the foreground and the right things to be in the background? Can you focus on the important parts of the story? Can you make the less important parts but necessary parts pass at an appropriate pace, one that will make them present but not distracting?

Novels work and don’t work for many reasons. But this seeing what’s important and giving it dramatic focus and expression in scenes, and summarizing the less important, and leaving out the unimportant, is a critical aspect of structure.

Or so I think today.

Also, in case you live in Austin, I'm doing a book celebration/signing with these two lovely ladies:


Mark your calendars to Holler Loudly about Alien Invasions and Truth with a Capital T!

Authors Bethany Hegedus, Brian Yansky and Cynthia Leitich Smith will celebrate their latest books at 2 p.m. Nov. 14 at BookPeople in Austin, Texas.