“The advantage of reading widely as opposed to trying to formulate a series of general rules, is that we learn there are no general rules, only individual examples to help point you in a direction in which you might want to go.” -- Francine Prose

As I've been working on this latest project, I find myself wanting to reread a slew of books, not as an adoring reader, but as a writer, gleaning technical information. "How does the journey work in this one?" "What was that character like?" "How did the climate shape their culture?" "How did their borders develop?"

And so I've been, as the quote says, looking for examples to help point me in the direction I might want to go. There are no general rules -- simply ideas and little outgrowths that work better for one particular story, or not.

Fascinating.