@doucette515 I often think of two of my favorite stories that are explicitly about something very specific, but are aslo—and perhaps more importantly—fundamentally about America: The Godfather and The Wire. Both unambiguously announce this in their beginnings and every time I rewatch them, I’m struck by how effective those beginnings are.

@doucette515 For example, the Neil Young song “Powderfinger” popped up on shuffle this morning. I always find it thought-provoking to try to build that song into a novel and to notice why I find it so easy to do this from a relatively short ballad. Why do the charaters seem so rich? Why does the scenario feel urgent?

@doucette515 Make a habit of reading like a writer. If there are things you regularly struggle with, be aggressive about noticing and analyzing them in every book, show, or film you consume. Songs too. I actually find this practice most helpful across media. Notice how movies handle POV. Observe how TV shows deal with where to begin a long story. Can you name all the important storytelling moves of your favorite movies? I find this exercise enormously useful.

@doucette515 Sorry for the delay. I don’t have any go-to writing resources, to be honst. There are many good ones, I’m sure, but they’re not something I find myself returning to. There are some media consumption habits that are really important to me, though, as an editor. They might be useful for writers too: