When the Rules Change (Embers & Industry Shifts)

Hey Wit,

So…things feel a little weird in our industry right now.

There’s been a lot of conversation swirling around Draft2Digital. Pricing changes. Terms shifting. Opinions flying in every direction.

And if you’ve found yourself thinking, “Wait…am I supposed to be doing something right now?” you’re not alone.

But before you make any big moves, I want to zoom out and look at the structure of what’s happening.

Because yes, even this is a story beat.

Specifically, we're in: Embers.

In The Storyteller’s Way, the Embers beat isn't about action.

It’s about processing.

It’s that thick, heavy mental fog the Hero feels right after a big change. You’re trying to understand the rules of this "new world" you’ve been thrown into. You might be resisting it, doubting it, or even trying to negotiate your way back to how things used to be.

But there’s another layer to this beat that’s even more important.

In the Embers phase, the FOE is usually quiet.

They aren't slamming clocks or launching an all-out attack. Instead, the chessboard is being reset. Pieces are shifting. The opposition is regrouping, watching, and making quiet moves behind the scenes.

Sound familiar?

Whenever a major platform like D2D changes its rules, it feels like the board has been bumped.

The pieces are sliding around.

The rules are being revealed in real-time.

And everyone is watching to see where things land.

The biggest mistake writers make here is to try to skip the beat.

They want to jump straight to the next phase—Into the Fire—where they make a big, definitive decision. They want to rush past the uncertainty and say:

“I’ve pulled my books!”

“I’ve moved platforms!”

“I’ve solved the problem!”

But Embers doesn’t work like that.

Clarity doesn’t come from reacting faster.

It comes from staying in the question long enough to understand it.

If you rush into action while the chess pieces are still sliding, you’re playing a game that doesn’t exist yet.

This is the part of the story where you:

Pay attention without panicking.
Gather information without spiraling.
Let the world reveal its new rules before you try to master them.

You don’t need to overhaul your strategy or chase every frantic opinion you see online. You just need to watch the board for a minute and wait for the fog to lift.

Soon enough, you’ll hit the next beat. You’ll have to make a choice, and you’ll have to move.

But if you skip the Embers phase?

You risk making a choice based on fear instead of understanding.

And a hero who is afraid is a hero who has already lost the lead.