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RULE_OF_REVERSALS

                                             August 2, 2007

  I find myself making
  reference to "The Rule of
  Reversals" pretty often:

    BLAZING
    ART_DECADE           NAUGHT_SEVEN
    FURY
                             (Concerning
                             The Avenger,
                             "Justice Inc")
    RECOMBINANT_PULP


  It's obvious what
  this means, right?

    "We can't do what we
    did last time!                When someone applies
    Instead, let's do it          the Rule of Reversals,
    like this for a               it means they've
    change."                      identified something
                                  they regard as
    "We can't imitate             inessential to the
    what they did in              formula, something that
    every detail.                 can be varied without
    Instead of that               fear of damaging the
    let's do this."               project.

                                      So by identifying what
                                      has been reversed, you
                                      can identify the
                                      invariant features,
                                      central to the genre?
                                                               A rule of
                                                               complements?
                         But consider the case       
                         of Holmes and Raffles:                (Imitation,
                         a bifurcation point                   the sincerest
                         in the evolution of                   form -- )
                         genres, the place where     
                         the crime story diverged    
                         from the mystery.           
                                                    
                                                
    There are no doubt                          
    other rules...                              
                            RECOMBINANT_PULP
    ("laws of form"?)



          Many shall become one,
          and one shall become many.      Stories require
                                          a sense of
                                          progress, and
                                          hence require
                                          change --


                                             There are
                                             "reversals"
                                             that must
                                             occur
                                             throughout.



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