Story shape emerges late, after factual material is already gathered

Evidence

It was only when I began to explore the contest between Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More that I realized I was writing the climax of a novel, not merely another chapter. The facts of history are plain enough, but the shape of the drama was late to emerge, and the triple structure later still. In my mind, the trilogy remains one long project, with its flickering patterns of light and dark, its mirrors and shadows. What I wanted to create is a story that reflects but never repeats, a sense of history listening and talking to itself. — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1141

Categorization

• SEED: Essays on how narrative structure is discovered rather than imposed could follow this insight.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1141
• XREF: connects to: Committing to a structure too early makes flawed writing seem right — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1078; Writers make split-second structural decisions during the haste of composition — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1095; The administrative cribbing of reports determined which event readings became evidence (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Writers make split-second structural decisions during the haste of composition #complicates (0.75) — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1095