Once I came to really understand the mechanics of three-act structure, my life got a great deal easier. It doesn't tell you how to write your book, but it helps you understand why things aren't working, or what kind of beat needs to come next.

Trying to analyze a situation without enough data was like looking at a photograph of a ball in flight and trying to gauge its direction. Is it going up, down, sideways? Is it about to collide with a baseball bat? Is it moving at all, or is something on the blind side holding it in place? A single frame didn't mean a thing. Patterns were based on data. With enough datapoints, you could predict just about anything.

I'm always geeking out about something.

Personally, one of the most helpful things I learned was three-act structure. For my first four or so novels, I built the structure intuitively.

He had been someone before. That person had been the result of a lifetime of choices, good and bad. And like it or not, he was drawing closer to that identity now. Not the freedom of infinite variety, but the tyranny of a decision made, a path walked, a life lived. What if he didn't like the view

Stephen King is open about the fact that he continues to learn the craft, and if King hasn't got it figured out yet, what the hell hope have the rest of us got?

The world would be a better place if people stopped voting for folksy candidates they could have a beer with and started voting for people smarter than they are.