DavisLENS6+Orange+Houses

LENS: The Orange Houses

While reading this story I was really interested in the introduction to each chapter. At first, the idea of a countdown to the climax of the story seemed a little unnecessary. I thought it would detract from building up the suspense. I began not even really noticing the time stamp as I started a new chapter. Though as I realized the hanging was only a few days away, I started becoming more intrigued with the story.

I had suddenly found myself compelled to find out what exactly the hanging was. I think this technique was intensified by pairing it with specific attention to chapter length. Though most of the chapters are fairly short to begin with, they began to be shorter and shorter until some were less than a page. I think this was really effective in creating a heightened sense of drama. You are being told something big is going to happen, but must go through all these small little steps to get to that something.

I’ve never been much of a fan of planned writing, just letting one sentence lead to the creation of another until it creates a rough story. But the planning that went into the Orange Houses created an interesting effect. I think this would be a really interesting concept to try with my own writing. Not necessarily the exact pairing of time stamps and section length (and also the poetry of the language), but paying very specific attention to several facet of writing to find complimentary techniques. I also wonder if this attention to detail could be used in the opposite direction: using techniques that clash with each other to create a particular feeling, perhaps confusion or despair. I’m curious to find these concepts used in other writing as well now.