I read often. Professional or amateur writer – I always feel I can learn from their styles.

This phrase from Plot, “Plot is a verb,” sticks with me when I read some things. The plot must move. It goes somewhere. It generally changes the protagonist in some way. A lot of little snippets have events and don’t change the main character. While these snippets can be interesting, entertaining, or sometimes neither, they don’t always keep all the elements of a story.

Sometimes writers forget who the story is about, or the story they start telling isn’t the one they finish telling. It’s not easy to tell a good story, and it is worth the effort to keep trying.