There are things writing and reading can’t teach you….

by Laura Anne Gilman

I was working on a scene last week where the two main characters nearly come to blows over a simple comment that escalates because one of them is tone-deaf to what they’re saying/how they say it. It’s a good, chunky scene, filled with drama, shoving the characters where they need to go, plot- and character development-wise. It requires a character to own his shit…eventually.

But what happens on page is choreographed, plotted, planned by a Higher Hand with the luxury of know...