You can't have bad things happening to characters simply for shock value; you need to provide context.

I've always been fascinated by dreams - they seem like such intriguing evidence of the brain's obsession with narrative as a form of sense-making. But because dreaming is an unconscious process, we have little control over the stories we tell, so they can be fraught with anxiety, vulnerability, and exposure.

My favorite writer is Alice Munro. It's simply amazing how well she captures entire lifetimes in a single short story.

Chloe Benjamin Quotes