When you run into a problem in your story, drill in rather than add on. What's a story problem you solved with the room you were already in?

My wife's acting teacher, Fred Kareman: "It's never a fight; it's a miscommunication." Characters who yell to win are fireworks. Characters who are trying to be understood and keep missing are drama.

The gods of Olympus. The knights of the Round Table. Storytelling keeps landing on twelve perspectives. Nov 11, I'm talking mythic archetypes with Christopher Vogler, tarynoneill and a room full of mythologists. Free, virtual, 6–8 PM PT. eventbrite.com/e/old-gods-ne…

Every great story is a controlled demolition. The explosion is the fun part. Knowing exactly where to put the charges is the craft, and that's most of the twists-and-turns chapter in my book. amazon.com/dp/B0HFH83VJD

The longer you sustain tension before release, the stronger the climax.

Caveats are excuses.

Stop Writing! hit #1 in all three of its Amazon categories. Didn't expect that. Finished it? A review helps for a first-time writer: a.co/d/0j2gOy7f

Don't describe—evoke.

When we shape our rhetoric, our rhetoric shapes us.

Vivid verbs paint pictures with words.

If you don't have a new take on an old trope, skip it.

The most memorable stories are cathartic for the writer.

Work that felt like play.

You don't have a story until you have a personal connection to the material.

We don't fall in love with looks—we fall in love with people.

A marriage that grew sweeter, not just longer.

The voice of a story should supersede the voice of a writer.

They don't ask about your medium—they ask about your meaning.

Stories without a distinct voice sound like they fell off an assembly line.

Kindness given without a scorecard.