On Helping Writers become Authors:

We live in a storytelling moment deeply fascinated by darkness—and for good reason. Stories have always descended into shadow to help us metabolize our fear, trauma, and moral failure. They name the monster, bringing it out of the shadows where it can be faced and perhaps integrated or understood.

But stories don’t just explore darkness; they also orient us within it as part of a larger narrative. This is why writers need to continue exploring a sense of wonder in fiction more than ever—not as escape or denial, but as a way of completing the arc. Wonder, hope, and other life-affirming paradigms are what allow stories to move through the descent rather than getting stuck there, which in turn shapes how both individuals and cultures imagine whether the journey is ultimately worth it.