Dear Readers

It's slightly over two years since the Golden Haystack published its first writing tip.  Life can and has changed astonishingly in those two years.  Unfortunately I no longer have time to regularly trawl the web looking for the rare gems of writing advice hidden in blogs and articles.  I'm not going to say there shall never be another tip posted here, but if there are, they will be irregular and probably preceeded by great lengths of time.

Despite this, I hope the blog archives continue to be as valuable to you as they are to me.

Wishing you success with your writing,

Ivory

Tip #307: Should I really do this?

You have a wild and crazy idea that flies in the face of everything you know and/or suspect to be screenwriting law? Do it!

Worst-case scenario, you gotta rewrite and rework whatever disaster you created. But best case — mind blowing awesomeness.

http://thestorydepartment.com/can-you-break-the-rules/

Tip #306: The romantic climax

the implied statement {of a proposal}: I want to spend the rest of my life with you, forsaking all others, etc, from someone you feel the same way about - that is where the emotion comes in. If you want to up that emotion, a really romantic proposal works to an extent, but you get the most impact from... the reader {and character(s) themselves being} unable to see a way for these two characters they really care about to live happily ever after, so when it happens, it blows them away

...if {the readers are} in secret of the planning, then they get to anticipate and fear the proposal scene

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/plot-doctoring/threads/101328 Comment by inkpawprints.

Tip #305: Let the reader be the judge

The screenwriter should never write, “The house is a mess.”... Because we can’t see it. Instead, the screenwriter must show dirty clothes on the ground and the empty Chinese food containers tipped over on the coffee table.  The trick is to use props and set-dressing (nouns) to convey the “messiness.”

The same holds true for character.  The audience bases their first impression on the things they see.  What does the character look like?  What is he/she wearing?

http://scootywoopinaway.tumblr.com/post/35847221238/screenwriting-tip-define-characters-with-verbs-not

If you're a novelist writing in first or limited third person: what does the viewpoint character think of what they're seeing?

Tip #304: Awesome concepts

It’s not enough to realize that you love a certain idea... figure out why you love that idea.

http://screenwritingtips.blcklst.com/2012/09/screenwriting-tip-1116/

Tip #303: Scaling challenges

when you're a first level character in a game a wolf is a really impressive challenge... once you've leveled up... an army of kobolds can't take them out. {The gradual scaling of challenges alongside the scaling of character ability as they grow from their experiences} needs to be built into your rule system right from the start... else the story gets boring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYqx3nwcpQ0&feature=plcp

Tip #302: On settings

Is your setting and milieu historical or exotic? Work until you find one thing we’ll recognize from our own reality. What’s the generation gap like in Victorian England? Does your society of demon slayers have a long-standing fight at their meetings over refreshments?

Is your setting by intention ordinary? Find things in it that are peculiar, local and contradictory. What’s the food found nowhere else? What’s the odd annual festival? What local legend is unquestioned? Who’s at war on a miniature scale? What’s a big irony in this social realm?

http://writerunboxed.com/2012/04/04/the-good-seed/

Tip #301: Info-dump via character reaction

How your character reacts to something gives your reader valuable clues as to how they should be reacting, what they should be learning from whatever just transpired, and how significant it is to the overall story.

Given example:

a character is staring out the window at night when, suddenly, she sees a firefly turn into a fairy princess out on the lawn. What is her reaction? If she thinks “Oh, no! Not again! That means dad will make me go out there first thing tomorrow and wash the fairy dust off the grass…” then that tells the reader that fairies are common in this world, and a bit of a nuisance. Not only do we get the character’s attitude about the firefly fairy, but we get valuable worldbuilding information (especially if this is the first time we see that this world has magic/fantasy elements to it). If she thinks “WHAT THE F*** IS THAT?!?!?!?!?!” and runs screaming from the room, we may take that as our cue that firefly fairies are not the norm and that something truly odd is going on.

http://kidlit.com/2012/09/19/the-power-of-reaction/

Tip #300: Problems with endings?

Does the plot build from... inciting incident to an inevitable climax? 

http://annerallen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-biggest-problem-facing-beginning.html

If you're having trouble answering this question, try separating your various story arcs/problems (external, internal, etc) and thinking as abstractedly as possible.  Different arcs may have different inciting incidents (but as many as possible should share a climax).

e.g. Inciting Incident: Boy learns his parents were murdered -> Climax: Boy comes face-to-face with the murderer is only a tiny part of the Harry Potter story and certainly not the main story arc, but the additional arc (and its dictated requirement) gives the climax additional emotional power.

Tip #299: Best use of rules

when characters {the readers} care about get into a situation where the rules dictate they're going to get killed, that's where they start to get really worried

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYqx3nwcpQ0&feature=plcp

Tip #298: Before and after

The before is the yardstick that allows the reader to measure the protagonist progress toward after.

http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/gluing-plot-to-theme-and-character-to.html

Tip #297: IDEA to CONCEPT to PREMISE

How To Move From IDEA to CONCEPT to PREMISE

1. IDEA asks no questions and presents no action or character

2. CONCEPT asks a question (‘what if’) and the answer to that question is your story *

3. PREMISE is a concept that brings character into the mix; it defines hero’s quest.

* Use as many ‘what if’ sequences as necessary to reach your concept

http://www.bullishink.com/2012/10/19/how-to-find-your-storys-premise/

Tip #296: Meaningful deaths

{the} reader cared about these various character deaths because their deaths left an impact...

http://avajae.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/how-to-kill-characters-with-impact.html

because of how their subsequent absence will change the story, especially for the protagonist.

Tip #295: Is your theme a question?

instead of using the theme “justice,” let the events of the story pose a more engaging question: “What’s more important, telling the truth or protecting the innocent?”

Rather than giving the advice, “You should forgive others,” let your story explore a dilemma: “How do you forgive someone who has done the unthinkable to someone you love?”

Let your story do more than reiterate the cliché, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Instead, challenge that axiom by presenting your characters with situations that raise the question, “When do the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many?”

http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/5-story-mistakes-even-good-writers-make