Introduction

“I have gathered a nosegay of other men’s flowers and only the thread that binds them is my own.” Montaigne

“The elements that make up works of fiction have their roots hooked, it seems, into the universe, or at least into the hearts of human beings.” John Gardner

“Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.” Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

“Fiction is the most joyous, beautiful, sophisticated, wonderful thing in the world.” Arundhati Roy

“In fiction two and two is always more than four.” Flannery O’Connor

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In my view, as a story evolves from Cause to Effect it stirs to life at Interest, then travels by those elements that serve it, toward Truth.

Please note that each Element — i.e., Interest, Observation, et cetera — is hyperlinked (blue). Follow this link to the author quotes for that element. You can also pick and choose the elements that interest you from the display below this page.

That said, here is a story’s path, as I see it:

Cause —

Interest is the seed that Observation (including Research) tends and grows. Experience is earth and the sun Imagination. Intention guides Creation: the world of tree, the resulting world: The Story.