Resonance (The Prophet from Jupiter)

[kennyc]

I read a story - The Prophet from Jupiter by Tony Earley last night and was completely blown away. I posted a mention of it in the Reading Recs section. I read it in the Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction (1999 edition) but it is on line here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7117960/Th...t-From-Jupiter

As I read it I kept going, my god he has EVERYTHING in here. And not only is it in there, but it all comes together into a cohesive ending. It is filled with both subtle and not so subtle symbols and meanings and is overall just a 'dam' good story!

I ran across this mention of it relating how the author had said he deliberately tried to put everything into it:

http://www.glimmertrain.com/b45percy.html

Putting everything in was worth it, it shows.

One reason this resonates with me is that I continually write down ideas, scenes, titles, incidents but I am very guilty of doing the 'rationing' thing mentioned by Benjamin Percy in the article above. I must stop that for I too have found (whether fiction or non-fiction) putting everything into it makes for the best result.

[gmw]

I do keep multiple lists. One list of thoughts that might one day lead to some new project, and separate lists related to specific projects. ... But I can't really say that I ever feel like I'm rationing the ideas, it's more like they're waiting for the place where they belong.

[kennyc]

Well, yeah, certainly some ideas/concepts/scenes are incompatible. But can still stimulate the creativity I think when you bang them up against one another.