What we do or don’t do when we face conflict is the engine of Storytelling.

You as the writer are not the problem, the problem is the problem.

People like to stop reading when they’ve finished a chapter, not in the middle of a chapter. This is probably the last thing they’ll tell you at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, but it’s a reality.

Have you ever taken a good look at a public garbage can in Paris, a paving stone in Rio de Janeiro, or a doorway in Dublin? Trust me – the man or woman responsible for making those utilitarian objects was creating art.

Remember that the first rule when editing a book is to DO NO HARM.

Stories fuel our courage and offer the cautions that we believe will help guide our own paths.

Change, no matter how small, requires loss. And the prospect of loss is far more powerful than potential gain. It’s difficult to imagine what a change will do to us. This is why we need stories so desperately.

These circumstances are called CONFLICTS. What we do or don’t do when we face conflict is the engine of Storytelling.

Stories are the most important thing we humans can create.

There’s no shame in not knowing something. There is only shame is when you willfully ignore and then blame the educated for your failures.