"Expanding the World"
Key Concepts
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Intertextuality: The relationship between texts, and how your new writing dialogues with the old.
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Authorial Voice: The specific "personality" of the writing, including sentence length and vocabulary choices.
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Verisimilitude: The appearance of being true or real; ensuring your expansion feels "true" to the original.
Examples & Applications
Scenario A: Continuing the Narrative
Original: The Open Boat by Stephen Crane (men are rescued, one dies).
Continuation: A scene detailing the survivorsβ first night on land. It would explore their "survivor's guilt" and the psychological impact of nature's indifference, maintaining Craneβs somber, naturalistic tone.
Scenario B: The "Missing Scene"
Original: The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe (Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs).
Missing Scene: A detailed interaction at the carnival where Montresor uses subtle flattery to exploit Fortunato's pride. This highlights Montresor's calculated villainy before the crime begins.
Memory Aids
Interactive tools to help you remember key concepts
Memory Tools
Every sentence you write should be "anchored" to a fact or quote from the original text.
Memory Tools
Imagine the original author is looking over your shoulder. Would they say, "I would never write that," or "That sounds exactly like me"?
Flash Cards
Glossary
- Binary Consistency
Ensuring that if a character is established as cold, they do not act warmly without a clear, text-based reason.