Tip #232: Secrets

The secret itself is not the most important part of the story. As with all works of fiction, the heart of the story is your characters. Your focus should be on how the character handles the secret, withholds the secret, discovers the secret, blabs the secret.

Make sure that the pursuit of the secret is at least as interesting as the secret itself.

http://dailyfig.figment.com/2012/03/27/pssst-ellen-potter-on-the-power-of-writing-with-secrets/

Tip #231: Good character development

Good character development always comes down to treating any character, major or minor, male or female, as a real person, an individual who *wants* things, who has a particular view of the world, who *makes choices* based on personal history, instinct, and intellect.

http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2012/04/women-in-sff-month-carol-berg/

Tip #230: Plotting Act 2

Plot from the {antagonist}'s point-of-view in Act Two; it is an invaluable tip.

http://www.writerswrite.com/screenwriting/lecture4.htm

Given example (from antagonist's POV):

"Wait a minute... Rockford went to my nightclub and asked my bartender where I lived. Who is this guy Rockford? Did anybody get his address? His license plate? I'm gonna find out where this jabrone lives! Let's go over to his trailer and search the place." Under his mattress maybe the heavy finds his gun (in Rockford's case, it was usually hidden in his Oreo cookie jar). His P.I. license is on the wall. Now the heavy knows he's being investigated by a P.I. Okay, let's use his gun to kill our next victim. Rockford gets arrested, charged with murder. End of Act Two.

Tip #229: Not so fast

Which of these two sentences is... stronger...?

He peered through the window and spotted a pile of bloody towels on the floor.
OR

He peered through the window and spotted a pile of towels on the floor. One of them was smeared with something dark, and in a heartbeat he knew what it was.

Blood.

http://romanceuniversity.org/2012/03/29/keep-them-turning-the-pages-by-laura-griffin/

Tip #228: Compelling characters

it's not just how much they want it... it's also what they're prepared to do to get it.

H.R. Filmore's Reminders to Self, April 2012.

Tip #227: A trick for introductions

mention a character in passing... And then later, the next time we see that character, you give more information or detail... The reader will barely remember that you mentioned the character the first time — but it's in the back of the reader's mind, and there's a little "ping" of identification...{which} creates a sense of familiarity

http://io9.com/5896488/10-secrets-to-creating-unforgettable-supporting-characters

Tip #226: Character tension

an incompatibility between characters that is acknowledged, but not acted upon.

Given example:

In the Sherlock Holmes novels, the famous detective was known to take opium on occasion, but his sidekick Dr. Watson frowned upon such activities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_(narrative)

Tip #225: Not just a prize

The role of the romantic interest is to challenge the protagonist and shock her out of her regular mental and emotional pattern.

http://screenwritingtips.blcklst.com/2012/02/screenwriting-tip-904/