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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48253
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48253
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Interesting question! Here's what occurs to me as the first principle of distance: From a distance, you can't see the small stuff.

At a distance you can see fear of dragons, but you can't see fear of bees.

At a distance you can see high romance, but you can't see petty infatuation.

At a distance you can see great thoughts, but not petty distractions.

At a distance you can see fatal wounds, but you can't see splinters.

At a distance you can hear grand speeches, but you can't hear whispered asides.

At a distance you can see moral conviction, but you can't see psychological ticks.

At a distance you can see the battle, but you can't see blood, sweat, and tears.

At a distance you can see the great heroic sacrifice, but you can't see the meaningless accident.

At a distance you can see the wedding, but you can't see the fourth date.

At a distance you can see the divorce, but not the quarrel over the TV remote.

The purpose of pursuing intimacy in a story is to examine all the ticks and insecurities that plague our everyday existence, that hold us back from doing grand deeds. The purpose of pursuing distance is to clear all those things from our vision so that we can examine the great themes of human existence. To do that, we have to step back from the petty and the ordinary and the everyday. Distance clears our vision so we can focus on the big stuff.

Original score: 12