Welcome and Farewell

A good story has an arc as does its writing. We choose to enter into storytelling with some trepidation. Hello. We begin, we struggle together, we finish what we can, it is time to go. Goodbye.

The encounter persists. Strangers visit on into the future following pretty much the same path that lead us to speak in the first place. There was once more to say, it was said, the link remains. Thoughts join.

Wiki twists but does not deny conversational convention. Hello and goodbye have their own unique form. The link says hello. The synopsis, goodbye. They are bookends to a thought worthy of story.

A well chosen title presents the story as clothes might present the storyteller. It leaves an impression in the subconscious beyond its purely utilitarian function.

A well chosen title joins story to context. Within context it invites diversion. Hello. Pleased to meet you. Let's think deeper when you are ready.

We speak hello with some caution as we are unsure how the story will go until it is finished. Some title ambiguity is allowed, even encouraged, as the story may have surprises now or in the future.

A well chosen synopsis completes the story directly and with finality that may not hold beyond the moment. It says goodbye. The reader unwilling to read further leaves with something. That is why we start each story with farewell.

A well chosen synopsis is written last. The draft synopsis provides charter but reserves latitude for diversion. Ideas dance about the page. Writer and ideas argue, frustrate, disappoint then surprise. Eventually the paragraphs are quiet enough to be left alone. Time to write goodbye.

See Incremental Paragraphs for concrete advice.