Maybe this embedding it in the story is what makes the cow believable?
It almost certainly accounts for at least some of it. There is a different feel reading something improbable when the author believes it, as compared to when it is merely a convenient deus ex machina. That's how I knew you believed in the cow and why I was so curious about whether that belief sprang from backstory or not.
I imagine well written stories as being like an aerial view of mountainous terrain, where the low-lying areas are obscured by fog. The peaks are the anchor points. The back story is in the valleys. Even though the peaks may appear disconnected on cursory inspection, everything works because the author knows the entire landscape intimately.
Not every story is constructed like that, of course, but I prefer stories where not everything is spelled out.
One of the benefits I find in writing non-chronologically and with anchor points in mind, is that foreshadowing and coherency seem to take care of themselves.
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Date: 2008-04-04 02:06 am (UTC)It almost certainly accounts for at least some of it. There is a different feel reading something improbable when the author believes it, as compared to when it is merely a convenient deus ex machina. That's how I knew you believed in the cow and why I was so curious about whether that belief sprang from backstory or not.
I imagine well written stories as being like an aerial view of mountainous terrain, where the low-lying areas are obscured by fog. The peaks are the anchor points. The back story is in the valleys. Even though the peaks may appear disconnected on cursory inspection, everything works because the author knows the entire landscape intimately.
Not every story is constructed like that, of course, but I prefer stories where not everything is spelled out.
One of the benefits I find in writing non-chronologically and with anchor points in mind, is that foreshadowing and coherency seem to take care of themselves.