The Story Frame

Lessons, Hacks and Inspiration to Write Your Story

The Story You Keep Telling Is the One You Need to Write

You know that story you've told three times this month? The one about the meeting that went sideways. Or the conversation with your kid that changed how you see parenting. Or that moment at work when everything clicked. It recently happened to me with my daughter. She told me what she had learned...

by Carlos Garbiras — Feb 02, 2026 memoir storytelling writing

Trick Your Brain Into Writing: The One Phrase I Use to Overcome Resistance

My brain makes excuses. "This story needs more thought." "I should outline first." "Maybe tomorrow when I'm more inspired." All lies. Just resistance dressed up as wisdom. I found a phrase that bypasses all of it: "I'm just going to..." That's it. I'm just going to open the document. I'm just goi...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 30, 2026 editing memoir storytelling writing

The Storytelling Power of First Times: Six Rejections and a Bag of Candy

For writing personal stories, I love writing about first times. As time goes by and you become older, there is so much nuance that goes into these stories. The younger generation might not be able to fully appreciate those times and your vivid detail will give them a better sense of how things us...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 29, 2026 editing storytelling writing

Why Structure Makes You a Better Writer (Not a Boring One)

When I started writing more consistently, I let the story guide the structure. After all, it's logical—a story is what a story is. However, I'd find myself rambling, wandering for three thousand words when one thousand would've done. Sometimes, I even tried to smash two or three stories into one ...

Jan 28, 2026 editing productivity storytelling writing

One Haircut, Four Essays: Your Ordinary Moments Are Stories

One Haircut, Four Essays: Your Ordinary Moments Are Stories My mother-in-law cuts my hair. Boring, right? Somehow, I managed to write four essays on it.Most stories in our lives have so many details. They don't when we think of them as the one-line summary we use in transactional and impersonal c...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 27, 2026 editing storytelling writing

Cut Anything That Is Not Story

When I first started competing at story slams, my performances would run 8 minutes, often risking disqualification for going over the time limit. It was in part because of the laughs, but the other part was because of my rambling. It is normal. It is the insecurity of the beginner who feels the...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 26, 2026 editing memoir storytelling writing

Writing From Memory, Not From Maps

Crickets. I submitted to an editor of a print publication I wanted to write for, and never heard back. Luckily, I didn't. I took the essay to one of my favorite editors of an online publication, and the piece went viral. The real problem was how I remembered the story. It was a story about lookin...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 24, 2026 editing memoir storytelling writing

Finding Your Voice by Listening to Yourself

In 2010, my rhetorical criticism teacher suggested that we read our essays and edit them. At the time, I didn't feel confident in my English speaking abilities, so I disregarded the advice. Ten years later, when I first started writing consistently, I wrote like a snubby, wannabe literary critic....

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 23, 2026 editing memoir writing

The Magic of What is Yet to Be Written

Every writer I've talked to manages their commonplace or archive of drafts differently. But they all have one. And there is a reason for the nonlinear system behind it. I was writing a story about my wife and some of the existential questions she was thinking about as she was facing another birth...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 22, 2026 editing memoir storytelling writing

When You Don't Feel Like Writing

There are days when I open my laptop, stare at the blinking cursor, and think, Absolutely not. No inspiration. No clever opening line. Just me and a vague sense of guilt for not being "consistent." In almost every other area in my life, I'd just give myself a break. Recharge. Go for a walk. When ...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 21, 2026 editing storytelling writing

Don't Write for That Person, Write for This Person

I was crushed by the feedback. I had written a heartwarming piece about my sister and how we didn't get along as kids, but how we became very close because we were the only friends we had when we first moved to the US together. I loved that piece, but more than that, it was intimately personal. I...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 21, 2026 editing personal stories storytelling writing

Oooops, I Wish I Had Not Published That

A few years back, I wrote a surreal satirical piece that was published through my newspaper column. The piece was a funny take on how God was probably a hoarder. But my way into the piece was by talking about my wife and me organizing our garage.Organizing your garage with your spouse is the wors...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 20, 2026 editing storytelling writing

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The Story Frame

Lessons, Hacks and Inspiration to Write Your Story

The Story Frame

Lessons, Hacks and Inspiration to Write Your Story

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