In mystery and horror writing, sometimes the little things matter. Consider these two sentences:
I walked into her holding a knife.
I walked into her holding the knife.
Each one seems similar and depending on the preceding sentence can make all the difference.
But alone,
holding a knife - seems accidental
holding the knife - seems intentional
Consider:
I fell into her hands holding a knife. - This seems accidental, a coincidence that I fell and she was holding a knife.
While:
I fell into her hands holding the knife. - This seems intentional, on purpose that I fell and she had the knife in her hand.
A knife could be any knife, one that she was holding to chop up vegetables or cut slices of cheese.
The knife gives the indication that it is important, one that she was holding to commit murder.
What do you think? Does a and the matter? Without the rest of the story will we ever know if it was an accident or intentional?
