Thou shalt not take the crisis out of the protagonist’s hands.

Thou shalt not make life easy for the protagonist.

Thou shalt not give exposition for exposition’s sake.

Thou shalt not use false mystery or cheap surprise.

Thou shalt respect thy audience.

Thou shalt know thy world as God knows this one.

Thou shalt not complicate when complexity is better.

Thou shalt seek the end of the line, taking characters to the farthest depth of the conflict imaginable within the story’s own realm of probability.

Thou shalt not write on the nose — put a subtext under every text.

Thou shalt rewrite.

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About Mike Wilson

Mike Wilson’s work has appeared in magazines including Cagibi Literary Journal, Stoneboat, The Aurorean, The Ocotillo Review, London Reader, and in anthologies including for a better world 2020 and Anthology of Appalachian Writers Vol. X. He received Kentucky State Poetry Society’s Chaffin/Kash Prize in 2019. He resides in Lexington, Kentucky, but summers in Ecstasy and winters in Despair.

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