Storytellers in words and in pictures use different forms but often do similar things. At the outset, it's the easiest elements that cause most problems. How much should be put in and how much can be left to the reader/viewer's imagination? Everything that is present has an effect and contributes to the overall picture. Nothing can be left to chance. Which is not to say that fortuitous accidents cannot reveal unsuspected depths and connections; they can and often do, and their unexpected appearance is one of the joys of any creative undertaking. But in the main, the creator has to keep hold of the reins and not send people off on wild goose chases.

I found a fascinating illustration of the kind of control of meaning which is available to film editors in this clip of Norman Hollyn, an editor and author of The Lean Forward Moment. Writers do exactly the same thing that Hollyn demonstrates. Very useful to see how the process plays out in in another medium.