“Stories not only give us a much needed practice on figuring out what makes people tick, they give us insight into how we tick.”

“Each thing you add to your story is a drop of paint falling into clear water; it spreads through and colors everything.”

“You cherry-pick events that are relevant to the story question and construct a gauntlet of challenge (read: the plot) that will force the protagonist to put his money where his mouth is. Think baptism by ever-escalating fire.”

“Before there were books, we read each other.”

“If I ask you to think about something, you can decide not to. But if I make you feel something? Now I have your attention.”

“A boy needs a father to show him how to be in the world. He needs to be given swagger, taught how to read a map so that he can recognize the roads that lead to life and the paths that lead to death, how to know what love requires, and where to find steel in the heart when life makes demands on us that are greater than we think we can endure.”

“Stories tell us how we should live.”