RISING SIGNALS

TIP:  Strong act breaks include event that impacts so much (emotionally or physically) that it changes the direction of the story.

“The subplot character… provides another opportunity to define the hero through comparison and advance the plot.

Character Lessons from Captain America: Civil War

When describing something, try to find elements that everyone can relate to. Saying a drink is thick as ice cream will only relate to readers who have eaten ice cream. But if you can find elements that everyone knows—the drink was like thick mud—then no one will be left out in the cold. (Whoops. There's a metaphor that only works for northern hemisphere readers. Maybe instead: then no one will be left out of the meal?)

[Without Tolkien, Lewis, and Chesteron,] I would not have understood that the best way to show people true things is from a direction that they had not imagined the truth coming, nor that the majesty and the magic of belief and dreams could be a vital part of life and of writing.

By making a habit of showing up every day to do the work, you build a resistance for those days when it's mundane, tedious, and not fun.

A good storytelling rule of thumb, and good argument against most sequels and prequels: Tell the most important story in your hero's life.

Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

In our goal-oriented culture, it's easy to focus our stories simply getting to the goal. But there is validity, and value, in simply being a place. Inhabit your spaces as your write.

We don't always need to be inspiring, lovely or triumphant. We need only to be faithful.