That's something that is almost accidental at the beginning of a career, but the more you write, the more trained you are to recognize the little signals.

The story is the only thing that's important. Everything else will take care of itself. It's like what bowlers say. You hear writers talk about character or theme or mood or mode or tense or person. But bowlers say, if you make the spares, the strikes will take care of themselves. If you can tell a story, everything else becomes possible. But without story, nothing is possible, because nobody wants to hear about your sensitive characters if there's nothing happening in the story. And the same is true with mood. Story is the only thing that's important.

The most important things to remember about back story are that (a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn’t very interesting.

Working on a new idea is kind of like getting married. Then a new idea comes along and you think, 'Man, I'd really like to go out with her.' But you can't. At least not until the old idea is finished.

You see something, then it clicks with something else, and it will make a story. But you never know when it's going to happen.

The worst thing you can try to do is to steer the story once it gets going. You just kind of follow along and see where it goes. That's the fun.

and then woe is you, Pauly. Woe to the max.