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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48315
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

 **Distance is carving off the incidental details**

It's not the size of the details, but their relevance to the story. In Cinderella, it matters that she scrubbed floors, and that her sisters were ugly. In Arthurian legend, it mattered that Uther had a thing for Igraine. It matters significantly less whether Cinderella liked raspberries, or whether Uther was normally a standup guy who would leave someone else's wife alone.

**What survives multiple retellings is the essence**

I would suggest that fairy tales are some of the best illustrations of "distant" storytelling. In fairy tales, the youngest son only has brothers because they cause him problems in the story, or because they explain why he had to go seek his fortune, etc. Cinderella has stepsisters because her mother has to have a reason to bestow her affections somewhere else.

"But all stories are like that. Chekhov's gun. Etc..."

Sure. But the more distant the story, the less dressing up there is with fine detail. In Solzhenitsyn's 1914, the rifles are heavy, and the ammunition cases have carrying straps, and soldiers have to reload, and when they're recklessly retreating they throw away their heavy ammunition cases, and later their rifles. In Peter and the Wolf, the hunters have guns.

But if part of the story is about running out of ammunition, _then_ you would mention it.

Breadcrumbs are important in Hansel and Gretel. In many fairy tales, it's not really mentioned what people ate. Distance reduces to the essence.

Original score: 2