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Monday, April 30, 2012

Agile novel development

In the world of modern commerce, 'agile development' is one of the nifty catchphrases that entrepreneurs throw about airily. It means, basically, figure it out as you go along; fling something up there, take user feedback, and fix it. It's an iterative (another catchphrase) process.

If it doesn't work, pivot (yet another hip-happening-yeah-baby phrase) in a new direction.

I'm all in favour of this stance in terms of developing a browser, a cloud-backup app, or photo-editing tools. But fiction is different.

A reader comes to a story for the first time only once. A story is an experience. I want that first experience to be meaningful, to feel as though it's really happening.

This is why I don't send out a zillion copies of the first draft of my books. It's why I don't post the writing as I go. I want my fiction--a novel, a short story--to be as good as good as it can be before being released into the wild. I want you, dear reader, to be swept off your feet. Only a fully-realised work of art can do that.

You've been very patient in the matter of Hild. But she is on the way. Stay tuned.

This blog has moved. My blog now lives here: http://nicolagriffith.com/blog/

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