Tell a Story

Listen to the Demands of the Story

"If elements of my own life sift themselves into the plot, it's because they feel organic to the story I am telling—a story that distinctly belongs to the characters and not to me.  I try to listen to the demands of the story and stay true to them."

Best Serve the Story

"You have to choose whatever will best serve the story—fact or fiction."

Darkness Is Meaningless

"If your story fails to have even the tiniest glimmer of fun in it, I must politely eject. Even the darkest and most nihilistic tales need that little starburst of fun or humor—not only to break up the darkness but also to serve as contrast to the darkness. The darkness is meaningless if we don't have any light for comparison."

Walk Across that Line

We Have a Responsibility

"We know in our deep and private places that we have a responsibility to take on things that draw our attention and to turn them into these mysterious objects—poems and stories—that illuminate, that offer an objection to the status quo, that warn and empower."