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The Story Frame

Lessons, Hacks and Inspiration to Write Your Story

Tags: memoir

Showing 11 results:

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

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

How to Make a Boring Topic Interesting

Numbers, strategies, frameworks—they wake up the moment a human walks into the room. A person turns information into meaning. A story turns data into connection. A small moment of tension turns a dry idea into something you actually want to read. And if you can't find a person? Use yourself. Your...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 18, 2026 memoir storytelling writing

If You Want to Write More, You Gotta Lower the Bar

I knew I wanted to write since my early teens. I'd give it a shot, and when I realized it looked nothing like the things I'd love to read, I'd move to start working on something else--never actually finishing anything. When I had my first daughter, that changed. I started hauling A*$, lowering ...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 17, 2026 memoir storytelling writing

The Structure I Stole From Debate (and Still Use Today)

I learned a simple structure to form paragraphs and arguments during my time debating competitively. Then I bastardized it to use as my own. If you are looking for a quick way to express your opinion or expertise, just follow this structure: Short statement (your thesis or opinion) Add the facts...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 16, 2026 memoir storytelling writing

Most Stories are Imperfect Memories

You don't need to remember all the details of a story; just a handful. But you do need to remember the emotional landscape associated with it. People want to know how that anecdote you want to tell made you feel. Instead of trying to smash every small detail into a story, make it simple. What is...

by Carlos Garbiras — Jan 14, 2026 memoir storytelling writing

Feeling in Your Ankle When a Storm Is Going to Roll by

My mom’s gift of gab convinced me to wear girly roller skates (3/3) All adults in the city break away for a few hours at noon to head home for lunch. My mom would make it home for lunch, but we lived on the fourth floor of a four-floor building—the exact floor limit to avoid building an elevato...

by Carlos Garbiras — Apr 15, 2025 coming of age memoir personal essay relationships satire

The Story Frame

Lessons, Hacks and Inspiration to Write Your Story

Tags: memoir

The Story Frame

Lessons, Hacks and Inspiration to Write Your Story

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