George Saunders Archives

Incremental Pulses

Bynhcarmichael February 17, 2022February 17, 2022

“A story is a series of incremental pulses, each of which does something to us. Each puts us in a new place, relative to where we just were.” — George Saunders, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life Swap “Life” for…

Editing Our Short [Life] Story

Bynhcarmichael August 5, 2021August 5, 2021

“Stuart Cornfeld once told me that in a good screenplay, every structural unit needs to do two things: (1) be entertaining in its own right and (2) advance the story in a non-trivial way. We will henceforth refer to this as ‘the Cornfeld Principle.” – George Saunders, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain…