To be a writer you have to be patient and curious because so much of writing is about delicate observation. To me, a great novel represents a very dynamic sort of tension between person, place, and time, and the best stories often seem to have both a cadence and a pulse, sometimes even a soul’s complexion. If you study them long enough then you are able to look past what is obvious, and see what is truly there. Nature is replete with these types of lessons too. 

I suppose my writing career is a never-ending quest to differentiate life this way. One of my first lessons as a writer was that strong dialogue is often as much about what is not said or done as it is about what is said or done. I have also learned that, for me, hands-down, the most beautiful quality a human being can have is uncompromising sweetness. Beyond kindness even, which I correlate with an action or a deed, sweetness has an innate and unwavering manner. Often underestimated, true sweetness has gumption, nobility, and the consonance of soul’s song.