Tip #280: Reactions & audience

the biggest laughs always come from watching characters react, think and take action... humor that's specific to the situation and the characters.

http://sevencamels.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/true-comedy-comes-from-character.html

It's fascinating stuff for the audience, even if you aren't writing humour, as peoples' reactions vary so widely.

Start with their visceral reaction. That’s the involuntary physical reaction we have no control over, that just happens despite all our best efforts to suppress it or hide it. These reactions occur immediately, before any thought processes or deliberate actions... Next, show an immediate thought-reaction, like Ow,or Oh no, or Damn, or Omigod, or That can’t be.

http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/show-visceral-reactions-first.html

Tip #279: Protag, meet antag

Far too often, I read about characters who should get together and they never do. For example, are you writing about a serial killer, and your detective never meets him before the climax? Boring. It’s much more interesting to get them together early on.

The same often happens in epic fantasy, where a young hero face a godlike foe that he never sees. Figure out how to put them together

http://www.davidfarland.net/writing_tips/?a=135

Tip #278: Self-interested readers

Consumers buy books according to the principle of self-interest. They need to know what’s in it for them... {whether} pure entertainment, personal inspiration, or fascinating information.

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/discoverability-without-spreadability-is-a-marketing-disability/

romances, fantasy, westerns, and so on – sell so well precisely because the audience does know within certain parameters how the story will end {and the emotions that will be evoked}.

http://davidfarland.net/writing_tips/?a=37

It's important to be clear about the things you're promising with your title, back cover copy/query and first pages & chapters. A reader who's looking for a cosy mystery and ends up reading a blood-splattered thriller by accident is unlikely to leave a 5 star review.

Tip #277: The best POV for a story

you can really mess with the reader by choosing the right point of view... some peoples' perceptions are really off.

http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2012/08/the-story-board-episode-1/

Tip #276: Choosing your protagonist

{With} either a first-person or tight third-person narrative, the protagonist is the reader’s guide to the story. We’re committed to seeing everything from his point of view.

So if that protagonist is too passive to ask relevant questions the reader wants to know, or not sufficiently nuanced in his worldview to be able to observe in useful detail, or too unpleasant to be good company for a few hundred pages, the reader may feel slightly cheated. Yes, even if the plot is very exciting: would you want to go on a tour of a haunted house with a guide that steered you away from the dark corners, did not seem to know much about the house’s history, or declared every fifteen seconds that anyone who believed in ghosts was an idiot?

http://www.annemini.com/?cat=3143

Tip #275: The writer's metaphorical camera lens

how close you are to the action, what you allow your reader to see vs. what is left out, what you linger on narratively, the speed through which you move through the action. . .

This all affects the reader's perception and mood.

If you’re just getting to know a narrative world you’re creating, think of yourself as a camera moving through the action, and try to write down as much of what you see as you can. Then, after some time has passed, look at that piece of writing again, and edit down the details so that they serve the primary story you want to tell and ideas you want to convey.

http://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/second-sight-an-interview-with-executive-editor-cheryl-klein/

Tip #274: Triggering audience empathy

One trick many writers use to create immediate, low-level empathy for their protagonist is to introduce the character in a situation that the reader is likely to have physically experienced.  The trick usually serves dual purpose by also generating curiosity as to why the character is in that situation.

Given examples:

bored/shivering whilst waiting for something/someone; eyes swollen with crying; standing/walking in a cold wind.

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

Tip #273: Make them human

When you have limited space to entice a reader one of the biggest challenges is making your main character sound enticing... When I want to tell people about Charlaine Harris, I don't start with her success. I start with how nice she is. How generous... the stuff that makes her special to us all.

http://queryshark.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/223.html
(Emphasis added.)

What makes your protagonist special to those who know him/her?

Tip #272: Compelling emotional stakes

Emotional stakes are created by a character acting to prevent the loss of something important to themself and/or others.

Given examples of Important Things:

Love, a loved one, a secret, safety, life, a long-time goal, an emotionally important object, a pet, integrity, self-appreciation...

To make those stakes compelling, add in or increase one or more of the below:

Feeling of responsibility for risk/character at risk
Love/respect/strong emotion for character at risk
Risk/fear of failure
Difficulty of character recovery from failure
Another important thing/character at risk from the same threat (house of cards)
Importance of IT to character at risk physical/mental well-being
Character at risk deservingness
Act of bravery (overcoming fear)
Act of sacrifice (character accepts & bears a loss/hurt)
Catch 22 (has to choose to sacrifice one character for another character, or one IT for another. No decision = both lost.)
Failure

All increase how far the acting character is prepared to go, what they are and aren't willing to do. Like spices, a little goes a long way. 

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


...Is it just me or is that also the definition of a story up there?

Tip #271: Backstory & plot

your protagonist should have an emotional backstory that enhances or complicates the plot of this book now.

Given example:

If he’s falling in love in the plot: What has his experience with love been like before this?

http://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/second-sight-an-interview-with-executive-editor-cheryl-klein/

This backstory tends to be one of the reasons why this story could have only happened to this person in this way.

Tip #270: Setup to response

The {First Plot Point} shifts the context of the narrative from the Part 1 SETUP to the Part 2 RESPONSE... {It is} a change imbued with a quest and journey for the hero... With problems to solve, foes to conquer (including the dreaded inner demons), obstacles to navigate, with stakes in play... it defines the revisions of your Part 1 and the very nature of the rest of your story.

http://storyfix.com/the-moment-that-makes-or-breaks-your-story

Tip #269: Scenes

scenes... are defined not by our words as much as they are by what happens in them.

http://storyfix.com/an-empowering-perspective-on-writing-scenes