Girlhood is big business. The ones who are best at it literally treat it as an occupation, modeling or taking suitably candid-looking pictures of themselves, recommending clothes and jewelry and books, going viral on TikTok. They’re performing a way of being that looks joyful, effortless, and adorable. It’s a performance that by definition has a sh... See more

A character should never get exactly what they want or what they're trying to get in a scene.

Instead, they either SHOULD get what they want BUT it has some unexpected consequence.

Or they should NOT get what they want AND it should have some additional unexpected consequence.

Braiding is One of the Highest Leverage Writing Skills

If you’re totally lost on what to focus on getting better at, focus on braiding.

Narrative-style writing (fiction and nonfiction) has four major components:

1. Action: Things happening


2. Dialogue: What people are saying


3. Description: The environment around the people and events


4. Interiority: The characte

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There are a TON of skills you need to get better at to write a good book.

Structure, story-telling, dialogue, description, scene, suspense, explanation, character-building, word choice, energy flow.

If you try to get better at everything at once, you’ll get overwhelmed and not make much progress.

Instead, pick one or two things and focus all of you... See more

Maybe it's because men have always felt like time is their own, and women often do not.

That the answer to all these questions—of art, of children, of startups—is “pay attention to your circumstances, work hard, establish the right culture, and manage your emotions” might be the most unsatisfying advice ever given. Still, it is the advice that I believe to be correct. There is no spreadsheet that will tell me how to raise my daughter ... See more

My biggest realization, particularly after my second baby, is that there is just a hard limit on energy that I have per day to do and make and care and build and grow . This is special energy, I’ll call it life force : the energy that powers creativity and relationships, dance parties and belly laughs, new writing and exercise. If I generally get e... See more

“I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I don't want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don't want it to "not matter." I don't want it to be something that just passes.

“My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. A

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It is a commonly shared sentiment that running is like life. In What I Talk About When I Talk About Running , Haruki Murakami writes:

“If you’re going to while away the years, it’s far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive than in a fog, and I believe running helps you do that. Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual l

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