From these four instances we may, perhaps,
deduce certain general principles of adaptation
which have at least proved valuable to those
using them.
These are suggestions which the practised
story-teller will find trite. But to others they
may prove a fair foundation on which to build
a personal method to be developed by experience.
I have given them a tabular arrangement below.
The preliminary step in all cases is
The aim, then, is
- to reduce a long story or to *amplify a short one.
For the first, the need is
- Elimination of secondary threads of narrative,
- extra personages,
- description,
- irrelevant events.
For the second, the great need is of
For both, it is desirable to keep
- Close Logical Sequence,
- Single Point of View,
- Simple Language,
- The Point at the End
