To kick off 2025, I dug through the 50+ letters I published over the last year and picked out the 10 best to help you become a better storyteller (judged by popularity, my own bias, and reader engagement).

Hope you enjoy:

Quick Note: My friend Nat Eliason, who I’m running the Between Drafts podcast with, built two slick software tools in less than 8 hours:

• Automatic audio transcription — Takes a 1 hour audio file and turns it into a polished transcript complete with timestamps. It costs 50 cents to run.

• This website, that doesn’t use webflow or any other expensive tool to run.

He spun up a video course on how you can quickly & cheaply build custom software with AI tools… Aimed at non-coders. He agreed for the code ‘WORLDBUILDERS’ to take $100 off the price. The first few vids are excellent. Join me and 300+ students here.

1. 7 Writing Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

I generally believe there’s two ways to improve at any skill. One, to study great work. Pick it apart, ask questions, figure out why you love it. Two, to practice yourself. Over and over. Until those lessons become second nature. This letter’s about what writing a first draft taught me.

2. The Perfect Villain

The great Robert McKee says, “A protagonist in a story can only be as intellectually fascinating and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism make them.”

3. Writing Immersive Stories

A guest post from Eddie Shleyner that digs into his 3 rules for realistm. He’s one of my favorite ‘real-life storytellers,’ if you will.

4. Story Bank

On the topic of developing storytelling as a skill, I curated my favorite resources across:

• Books

• Essays

• Courses

• Podcasts

• Practices

to help you become a better storyteller.

5. Promise → Payoff

I especially like the idea of Promises and Payoffs at the scene level. It gives you a lens to step back and analyze what expectations you’re setting for your Reader. Ask yourself – What Promise did I make? Are we making progress toward those Promises? Does the story pay off that Promise?

This is what people often mean, I think, when they say a story doesn’t quite do it for them. Somewhere along the way, the Promises made weren’t kept. This is why good stories feel earned.

6. Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory

Hemingway wrote what may be the most gut-wrenching short story I’ve ever read: “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.”

It’s the perfect example of his iceberg theory of storytelling, which is all about what to not explicitly include in your story. Now, your Reader becomes a co-creator of your story. An active participant.

7. Pachinko — 3 Aspects of the Hook

The novel Pachinko opens with a set of three paragraphs that act as one of the most effective hooks I’ve ever read. This essay analyzes what, exactly, is going on.

8. The Origin of Fire

A short retelling of the Greek Prometheus myth. One of the few fiction stories I’ve shared online. I want to do more of this in 2025.

9. TS Eliot’s Gem

To this day, my favorite piece of storytelling advice I’ve distilled goes like this:

Write the end first. The end drives the beginning and middle, not the other way around. That way you know what you need to achieve, what you need to mention, and what matters throughout your story.

10. The Drive Shaft of Drama

Aaron Sorkin on the two main ingredients of story: “I have to stick — really closely, like it's a life raft — to Intention and Obstacle. Just the basics of somebody wants something, something is standing in their way of getting it.”

Have an awesome week,

Nathan

PS. What’s one topic you want me to write about this year?

Trivia — A Sentence I Wish I Wrote

Here’s a line I can’t get out of my head recently. What novel does it come from? Tap your best guess.