Scene 1: I’m a patrol officer on duty with my partner. We see a man on a motorcycle roll through a stop sign in a semi-industrial, semi-residential neighborhood. We follow him for about a block before pulling him over. My partner and I get out of our cruiser and approach the man. He gets off his bike and immediately starts arguing. I’m the “contact” officer, the one in charge. It’s my job to control the…
In the writing world, there are “plotters” and there are “pantsers.” Plotters meticulously organize their writing with binders and whiteboards and storyboards filled with character charts and sticky notes that detail perfect three-act story arcs. Plotters not only know who their characters are, not only what they’re going to do in chapter five, but what they did before the story even began. Plotters seem to love planning. Pantsers, in contrast, often start with a general…
I’m not sure when I began to fear public speaking, but that terror of getting in front of a group, or just voicing an opinion, has always been with me. Looking back, I think it must have been during my early school years (after being teased mercilessly by the kids at school for what, in their eyes, were unforgivable sins) when I decided it was dangerous to my well-being to draw attention to myself. And…