Technology is Darwinian. It spreads. It evolves. It adapts. The most dangerous wipes out the less fit.

Conflict is the place where character and plot intersect.

In commercial fiction especially, everything in the story usually contributes directly to the plot The shorter the story, the truer this is

What characters do must grow out of who they are, and who they are is, in turn, influenced by what you make happen to them.

There are two wrong reactions to a rejection slip: deciding it's a final judgment on your story and/or talent, and deciding it's no judgment on your story and/or talent.

Fiction is about stuff that's screwed up.

You think intelligence and grit can succeed by themselves, but I'm telling you that's a pretty illusion.