Tip #215: Frames

Every time you describe that your character saw, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted something, see if you can’t drill into the more essential information of the sentence and cut out the unnecessary words....
No matter if you’re telling your story in first person or third, you are basically saying, “This is what my character experienced”

there's no need to repeat yourself.

http://kidlit.com/2012/02/08/eliminating-the-frame/

Given example:

She saw with her eyes that there was an elephant standing impossibly in the castle’s ballroom.
Or you could simply say:
An elephant stood, proud, tall, and incongruous, in the middle of the castle’s ballroom.

Tip #214: Psychology of reaction

{When} something happens to a person... that person... has to decide WHY it happened. That decision is completely critical to how the person ends up feeling--and responding--to the event.

http://thestrangestsituation.blogspot.com/2012/01/awesomeness-of-attributions.html

Tip #213: Logline structure

*WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS*, *YOUR PROTAGONIST* *PURSUES A GOAL*. But will he succeed when *ANTAGONIST PROVIDES OPPOSITION*?

http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/1308.html


Obviously this isn't the be-all-and-end-all, but playing around with this template can be a handy way to try to narrow down some of the main elements of the story.

Tip #212: Mistakes

Stories are often about men and

women who make mistakes and take action based on those mistakes. Then they realize those mistakes, and they must come to terms with the consequences.

in the end.. it’s more as a reward for the knowledge they gain through the mistakes

http://www.cherylklein.com/id18.html

Tip #211: Action scenes

emotion... {is} what makes a fight scene interesting, and it’s what gives the reader a stake in its outcome. The rest, the technical stuff (the mechanics of throwing punches, of laying down sentences, of word choice), that’s just window-dressing.

http://www.stinalindenblatt.com/2012/01/writing-kickass-action-scenes-part.html

Tip #210: Character subtext

there is a very clear, often palpable gap between one’s inner thoughts and... exterior behavior and attitude...

When creating a character, consider

The extent to which someone – including your hero and your villain – recognizes the gap between their true thoughts, beliefs, preferences and comfort zones, and the way they choose to behave or appear in spite of them...

http://storyfix.com/game-changer-create-an-inner-dialogue-within-your-hero-and-your-villain


The gap tends to be related to:

The tension between who you are and who the world wants you to be

http://cherylklein.com/electric-eels/

Tip #209: Beginning to end

juxtapose your first and last chapters. When you compare the two side-by-side, your goal is to see clear growth and a direct relationship between questions raised and questions answered.

Given examples:

If your protagonist is wishy-washy about something in Chapter One, make them believe it, own it, reject it—it doesn’t matter what, as long as their stance has become firm--by Chapter Forty Five.

If they’re seeking knowledge, then they darn well better have it by the end.

If they’re seeking acceptance, or are in need of humility in your opening chapters, then get them there.

http://yamuses.blogspot.com/2012/02/avoiding-end.html

Tip #208: On character flaws

Because, hey, of course Perfect Joe over there is going to solve the mystery and get the girl, but what about the guy who’s too stubborn to admit that he’s deaf in one ear? Will he be unable to sneak out of a Thai prison if he can’t hear the guards coming? Will the young English girl he’s fallen in love with give up on him when she mistakes his inability to hear half her questions as disinterest?

http://yummymenandkickasschicks.com/?p=12382

Tip #207: The callback

using a memorable line from the beginning of a piece later in another context... is an excellent tool for creating a feeling of completion in readers’ minds.

http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/10-ways-to-improve-your-writing-while-thinking-like-a-comedy-writer

Tip #206: The protagonist's allies

By choosing the characters surrounding the protagonist carefully to represent extreme choices related to the key conflict, you can turn a story from enjoyable but forgettable to an enjoyable story which shows how men and women live their lives, and the choices they have to make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBWEf7TCOi8

Elizabeth Bennet is surrounded by different examples of marriage (probably the biggest choice she and women of the time would ever make): her father and silly mother, her sensible aunt and uncle, her practical friend Charlotte and silly Mr Collins, good-hearted Jane and Mr Bingley (and his married sister and her husband who - in the BBC drama - don't seem to have anything in common), silly Lydia and self-centered Mr Wickham.  Austen doesn't really explore spinsterhood, but there are Charlotte and Miss Bingley, both of whom wish to be married.

Tip #205: The power of story

After completing a book you won't be the person you were before trying to write it, not if you've done it right. There's real fear in that... You're supposed to be scared... it means you care. If you didn't care {the story} would have no power

http://www.seanferrell.com/2011/12/pathetic_email.html