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Technique in the minds of many is something rigid, something like a formula that you impose on the material; but in the best stories it is something organic, something that grows out of the material, and this being the case, it is different for every story of any account that has ever been written.
Flannery O'Connor
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Technique in storytelling should be flexible and evolve from the story itself rather than be a rigid formula.

Flannery O'Connor emphasizes that storytelling technique should not be viewed as a strict formula but rather as a living aspect that evolves organically from the narrative and its material. Each story has its unique essence that requires specific techniques tailored to its individual needs, thereby making the art of storytelling deeply personal and varied.

Themes

StorytellingTechniqueOrganicArtCreativity

In practice

Example use cases

A writing workshop discussing the importance of adapting narrative techniques.

More from Flannery O'Connor

Let me make no bones about it: I write from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. Nothing is more repulsive to me than the idea of myself setting up a little universe of my own choosing and propounding a little immoralistic message. I write with a solid belief in all the Christian dogmas.
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What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.
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If you live today, you breath in nihilism ... it's the gas you breathe. If I hadn't had the Church to fight it with or to tell me the necessity of fighting it, I would be the stinkingest logical positivist you ever saw right now.
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There won't be any biographies of me because, for only one reason, lives spent between the house and the chicken yard do not make exciting copy.
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Knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are
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He loved her because it was his nature to do so, but there were times when he could not endure her love for him. There were times when it became nothing but pure idiot mystery.
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