But to others they may prove a fair foundation on which to build a
personal method to be developed by experience. I have given them a tabular
arrangement below.
The preliminary step in all cases is
_Analysis of the Story._
The aim, then, is
to _reduce_ a long story or to _amplify_ a short one.
For the first, the need is
_Elimination_ of secondary threads of narrative,
extra personages,
description,
irrelevant events.
For the second, the great need is of
_Realising Imagination_.
For both, it is desirable to keep
_Close Logical Sequence_,
_A Single Point of View_,
_Simple Language_,
_The Point at the End._
CHAPTER IV
HOW TO TELL THE STORY
Selection, and, if necessary, adaptation--these are the preliminaries to
the act of telling. That, after all, is the real test of one's power. That
is the real joy, when achieved; the real bugbear, when dreaded. And that
is the subject of this chapter, "How to tell a story."
How to tell a story: it is a short question which demands a long answer.
The right beginning of the answer depends on a right conception of the
thing the question is about; and that naturally reverts to an earlier
discussion of the real nature of a story.
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