No two people will ever see or feel things in the same way, Merry. The challenge is to be truthful when you write. Don't approximate. Don't settle for the easiest combination of words. Go searching instead for those that explain exactly what you think. What you feel.

Cassandra wondered at the mind's cruel ability to toss up flecks of the past. Why, as she neared her life's end, her grandmother's head should ring with the voices of people long since gone. Was it always this way? Did those with passage booked on death's silent ship always scan the dock for faces of the long-departed?

It was such a pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, to feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season.

That, my dear, is what makes a character interesting, their secrets.

The stretch of years leaves none unmarked: the blissful sense of youthful invincibility peels away and responsibility brings its weight to bear.

Always remember, with a strong enough will, even the weak can wield great power.

We're all unique, just never in the ways we imagine.