Q: When do you decide a story is finished?
A: I’ll admit that I’m drawn to writing that is (or seems) fragmentary, so I might be in a bad position to identify when a story is finished.
But that’s not a real answer, so here’s another attempt: I know I’m approaching the finish of a story when certain recurring motifs begin to feel less like flourishes, and more like they are essential to the structural integrity of the whole story.
Molly Etta’s story “Solomon and the Dragon’s Tongue” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 20 May 2016. Subscribe to our e-mail updates so you’ll know when new stories go live.
