Sometimes the all-or-nothing romance works, and sometimes — like with Lane and Zack — it really doesn’t. — I am one of the few Gilmore Girls fans who generally doesn’t mind Zack and Lane as a couple. It’s certainly not the worst example of a guy marrying up and out of his league, and I actually appreciate the way they handled Lane’s conservative choice regarding her sexuality. …

Does your story really need a prologue? Depends on the story, but Lorelai’s definitely did. — The first scene of Gilmore Girls is a master class in setting up a story without an info dump. Lorelai is walking down a cute street in a New England town and makes her way into a funky little diner. She begs for coffee and the diner owner obviously knows…

Almost nobody in Stars Hollow has any siblings — but there’s one pair that’s extremely well-written — Rory is functionally an only child. Her half-sister, Gigi, is born when she is eighteen and they have minimal contact from that point forward. Her parents, Lorelai Gilmore and Christopher Hayden, are both only children. We don’t know much about Christopher’s parents, but we know quite a bit about Richard and…

In Omnia Paratus is one year old and we’re celebrating! At a writing conference in the spring of 2021, Annette and I had lunch and talked about our shared love of Gilmore Girls. I had a podcast at the time in which another friend and I discussed the genius writing…

Using real life to inspire character moments and keep it real — Season three of Gilmore Girls brought us Dave Rygalski, a potential love interest for Lane. Dave responds to an ad Lane has placed; he has a band in need of a drummer, and she is a drummer in need of a band. …

Don’t use numbers in your story. Just don’t. — Emily Gilmore is fabulously wealthy. So wealthy that when she is fighting with her husband in season four, she goes to a high-end department store and purchases semi-custom home décor, designer clothing for her husband in a range of styles and colors, and more. …

Gilmore Girls was lauded as a feminist show, but they made some big mistakes. Here’s how you can learn from them. — In case you missed it this past week, Scott Patterson opened up about a disturbing experience he had on set during his podcast, I Am All In. The scene in question happens when Luke is lying mostly on his side, examining the backside of the stove that needs repair. Sookie…

Keeping Luke and Lorelai apart took Herculean efforts. Here’s how they did it and why it paid off so well in the end. — From the beginning of the show, Luke and Lorelai obviously have a history. He calls her bluff about coffee within the first thirty seconds. …

One of the flaws in the Gilmore Girls revival came from what — or who — was missing — Gilmore Girls shined, in large part, because of the huge cast of characters that was held in balance masterfully. Annette talked in depth about the balance between this huge cast of characters in a three-part series you can find here, here, and here. In the revival, that large, diverse, balanced…

The best fictional couples are the ones who know they can’t change the other person, but the other person changes anyway. — In every rom-com or romance novel, you see the same structure: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl both have Issues they need to work on, those Issues threaten to drive them apart, they fix their Issues, they stay in love forever. (I have simplified…

The secret to getting readers to turn the page and audiences to tune in next time — People start a story because they’re intrigued and it looks like something they’d enjoy. Intrigue and enjoyment vary wildly from person to person, of course, and are heavily influenced by marketing. “Marketing” includes everything from trailers and commercials to book covers and word-of-mouth recommendations and is often completely out of…

It’s always Team Logan this and Team Jess that, but what about Naked Guy? — The first time we meet Marty is on Rory’s first day of classes. It’s “shopping week” at Yale, a week in which students can test out as many classes as they want before locking in their schedule for the semester. Rory is super early to her first class, so early…

The girl was a terrible journalist, but she was also never meant to be one. — Sixteen-year-old Rory Gilmore has but one wish: To go to Harvard, become a journalist, and travel the world, reporting hard-hitting pieces like Christiane Amanpour. That’s four wishes, I guess. Harvard, journalist, travel, reporting… yeah. Four. Close enough. Sixteen-year-old Rory Gilmore has but four wishes… So when, as a high school…

It just isn’t. — This piece has been sitting in my drafts for a while as I try to get my thoughts perfectly clear. Then James Patterson said some bullshit to USA Today, and, well… here we are. If you belong to a marginalized group — whether you a person of color, LGBTQ+, a…

Yes, their eating is disordered — but I don’t think it’s as damaging as it could have been. — I learned disordered eating at my mother’s knee. Binge and purge diets were commonplace in our home as I grew up. Kate Moss may have said, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” but my mother repeatedly said, “It’s easier to keep the weight off than it is to lose…

He’s a villainous man, but that’s because he’s kind of right. — The first time we are introduced to Mitchum Huntzberger is in Season 5, Episode 19, “But I’m a Gilmore!” Rory is being introduced to Logan’s family as his girlfriend. Mitchum is late to the dinner and misses all the action. And by “action” I mean the Huntzbergers insisting Rory is…

For all its feminism, Gilmore Girls sure fell into a big misogynistic trap. — Lorelai Gilmore isn’t like other girls and she’s raising her daughter to not be like other girls. They’re Cool Girls They are exceptionally thin, but don’t worry, they don’t actually try to be thin. They don’t do stupid girly things like “count calories” or “eat salads” or “workout”… ever. …

One tiny detail can derail your entire story. So maybe just … don’t include it? — Season seven, episode seven, Lorelai and Christopher go to Paris and get jet-lagged. They fall asleep at 7:00 PM and wake up at 4:00 AM. We know it’s 4:00 AM because they say it four times out loud, and specifically say they slept for nine hours from 7:00 PM, making…

They’re adorable and you love them, but do they ever do anything useful? — In the summer of 2021, I read a very popular YA fantasy. Very popular — more than 750,000 ratings on Goodreads and more than 12,000 Amazon reviews. It enjoys a 4+ star rating on both sites. …