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.