Writing: in search of the “Little Black Dress”

In fashion, the little black dress is a timeless classic, and a much trickier style exercise than it looks.

When it’s done right, it feels simple but never simplistic. It holds together through subtle precision: the cut, the fabric, the finishing touches. Nothing sticks out. Everything falls perfectly into place. It feels obvious, unique, effortless, as if it had always existed.

But for that to happen, every element must be in perfect balance. If one thing is even slightly off, the magic breaks.

What if writing worked the same way?

Whether you're crafting a screenplay or a novel, the goal is the same: to reach that built-in sense of rightness. That perfect narrative fit where structure disappears into the story, and every detail contributes to a cohesive, powerful whole.Something that feels natural, fluid. Organic.

Like the little black dress, a strong script feels self-evident. But that’s an illusion. It’s carefully constructed through precision, subtlety, and relentless attention to detail.It’s a dance between intuition and analysis, imagination and technique.

Sometimes, deep into a rewrite, something doesn’t sit right. There’s a small itch. A quiet resistance. And you don’t know exactly where it’s coming from (spoiler: often from earlier choices). Don’t dismiss it. It’s not your mood, the weather, or the headlines. Those micro-frictions are signals.

You have to search. Find. Fix. Adjust until the story falls just right.

(And crucially: stop when it’s done. Don’t overwork it. More on that in another post…)

Elegance here isn’t about beauty or genre. A story can be dark, raw, disturbing ; or dazzling and wild and still feel perfectly held. It’s about narrative mastery and deep coherence. That’s what gives a story its inevitability.

Even a horror film can be a little black dress: sharp, unshakeable, obvious.

A strong story is like a perfect little black dress:

·       Seamless internal logic

·       Effortless flow

·       Invisible balance

·       Subtle, precise details

·       And a whole that’s more than the sum of its parts

And when everything clicks into place, the story is ready to be worn by someone else: a director. An actor. A reader.

And from there it lives its own life.

Writing and rewriting : In Search of the “Little Black Dress”