Starwoven: A Story in Verse
Stripping a story down to what it believes.
What remains when a story is reduced to its essentials?
Note: The index and links to individual chapters and downloads are at the end.
For the past few years, I have been studying story structure. I like structure. I have learned much … and agree with much of what I’ve learned.
But it has not made me any more comfortable in writing long-form fiction. It hasn’t sat well with me ... or felt natural. It doesn’t quite fit.
I began to think that fiction was not my cup of tea.
But that sentiment did not sit well with me either.
Brevity, essence, resonance—those are the fields my mind has been wandering these past several months. Curiously, I only found them after I stopped paying homage to artificial structure.
So the experiment that almost certainly began with phaiku, brings me now to stripping down a story that I wrote basically to prove to myself I could write fiction.
Until now, I had been forcing myself to write to more traditional structure expectation. I was having fun, but I wasn’t enjoying the results.
Recently, I gave Starwoven:Hear My Call another chance.
I stripped away everything that felt nonessential and was left bare—with naked emotion. A beautiful essence, and a feeling of finally finding home.
The experiment entailed:
Writing the story normally.
Creating an “erasure version” using only the words already present.
Creating a final version consisting only of the lines that refuse to disappear.
The goal?
To discover what the story itself believes.
Starwoven began as a novella that received an Honorable Mention in Writers of the Future.
Following is an index of Starwoven: A Story in Verse.
It’s quite a different tale from the original.
Whether you’ve read the original or not, I would love to know what you think …
If you reduced one of your own pieces to only the words that refused to disappear, what do you think the work would reveal about itself … or about you as a writer?
INDEX OF CHAPTERS
07 WHEN THE STARS REACHED BACK
bonus audio: Threads - a Space Shanty
Downloadable PDF (complete): Starwoven: A Story in Verse
Oooh I LOVE this! What a fantastic exercise, something I'll definitely have to try myself. ✨
The only thing I'd like to add is a reminder that those other 408 words were not wasted--they are the ore that contains the gold, the sod from which the roses grow. I know how frustrating it is when you discover something new in your work and think, "why didn't I see this before?" but if there's anything I've learned (and I should note, something YOU helped me learn; I'm just trying to return the favor 😅) is that the process matters and as long as you're engaged with the work, it will lead you in the right direction. ❤️
Enjoyed these memorable lines from your post: “I stopped paying homage to artificial structure” and “discover what the story itself believes.” This phrase will also stick with me: “crushing silence.”