The Facets Technique builds a bright and vivid depth in a creative work by treating a narrative incident like the facets of a diamond, where different slices through the situation are described and then recombined.
It consists of reorganizing and recombining different views through the creative work, each picked out by its illumination of creative detail.
How does 'Facets' Work?
The concept involves developing creative passages by identifying the various 'cuts' or angles of a scene. By selecting different views - such as sensory perception, character viewpoints, or thematic development - the writer can build a multi-dimensional narrative that feels substantial and multi-layered.
The process involves selecting a section, listing the specific conditions or details that define those views, and then expanding those lists into creative points of departure for the final prose.
Illustration: Defining the Facets
To build the narrative below, we select specific Facets and identify the Attributes required to give each facet its distinct 'sparkle.'
Facet A: The Atmospheric Facet
Focus: The external environment mirroring internal tension.
Attributes: The drizzle of the valley, the black shapes of the townspeople, and the clatter of a market closing.
Creative Spark: The physical 'damp' of the town pressing against the glass of the workshop.
Facet B: The Ethical Facet
Focus: The moral weight of the business decision.
Attributes: Subversion, corruption, and 'fungus.'
Creative Spark: Anjali's ambition is framed not as a dream, but as a biological growth or a predatory act - 'holding the wolf by the ears.'
Facet A: The Structural Facet
Focus: The physical act of tailoring as a metaphor for finality.
Attributes: Pushing pins, snapping cotton, and the irreversible snip of scissors.
Creative Spark: The argument between the two women is realised through the tension of the fabric they are holding.
Illustration: The Narrative from The Tailor
By weaving together the different views identified in the Facets above, the following passage from Chapter 10 was developed using the Facets Creative Technique:
Black shapes in the drizzle were crisscrossing the end of Arrow Street. The town centre market was coming to an end and the clatter from the dismantling of the market stalls reached the window behind which Anjali was working.
Anjali took a pin from the cushion on her arm and pushed it through the cuff of one of the jackets. 'The Factory Manager is just making changes,' she said. 'If we are ever to be more than a shop that alters and repairs, we need to work with those in the town that have the need and the means to change things. Fashion is expensive – and change is the heartbeat of fashion. We cannot work at the cutting edge, Panya, without cutting.'
It was a deliberate statement. It was like the snip of a pair of scissors through lace. 'You have hold of the wolf by the fabric of its ears, Anjali. It will bite us and it will bite hard. This is a small town where reputations are quickly formed and quickly destroyed. The town is like an echo chamber, any rumour echoes amongst its buildings and is soon distorted.'
Anjali let Panya's words hang in the air. There are certain materials that will run together and certain that will clash. The trouble for a tailor is that you cannot fully know how different fabrics will work together until you see them at full stretch. 'A badly dressed thug is a thug, Anjali. But a well-dressed thug is a name, is a presence, is a person of note. We make that difference - we make the alteration - and we cannot be anything but responsible for the alteration that we decide to tailor.'