Finding the angle of repose, that easy place where story flows
is no easy task.
First, pour your heart out on the page
until a pile forms— sufficient text for a memoir, say.
(Example: if the memoir has 360 pages, write M=360)
Using a life span and brutal honesty, measure the amount of truth versus myth you have created, and divide M by half (most probably).
M ÷ 2 = 180
Edit and rewrite to create that desired book-length document.
Remember, the steeper the slope the more likely the pile is to slough off, slipping until…eventually we find that angle
where the story stands and the truth prevails.
Sarah C Morgan 
I’ll admit it … I had to look up “angle of repose.” After reading through (a few) definitions, I love the application of this phrase to writing, especially since much of the writer’s work really is like taking a tumble into and “engineering” our own landscapes, and in the process there is something of a tumbling off of words, and waiting for them to come to rest in the right places! This is a lovely idea.
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Hi, Khara. Thanks for stopping by. I first read about the angle of repose in Wallace Stegner’s book of the same name. I think it applies to writing, as well, and this short piece stemmed from a writing prompt that I think went along the lines of: to incline is to tell the story slant. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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