Tip #327: Battle & fight scenes

There are many different reasons for a good battle scene. Am I trying to give a proper end to a beloved character? Am I trying to resolve the grudge, or to determine who, in the end, is better? Am I using a fight to leave a cliff-hanger...? Am I writing a personal fight between two enemies, or a grand-scale battle which can determine the fate of a city? Or am I simply trying to wake up the readers after a long pause in the action? I do that. I admit it openly. There are times when I just want a reader to get his or her pulse pounding.

http://blog.shelfari.com/my_weblog/2011/08/ra-salvatore-on-how-to-write-a-damn-good-fight-scene.html

Keep in mind that the injuries sustained during a fight will linger... Even if a person is never touched, and inflicts all the damage, there can be an emotional toll that character will walk away with

http://www.maxwellalexanderdrake.com/ClassHandouts/Old%20Handouts/Handout%20for%20Anatomy%20of%20a%20Fight%20Scene%20Pt1%20by%20Maxwell%20Alexander%20Drake.pdf

Tip #326: Living characters

our characters are just like us, constantly reacting to a million different stimuli... they could {n}ever have anticipated.

http://www.writeyourscreenplay.com/2013/04/24/are-you-planning-your-script/

Tip #325: The book you should be writing

Try imagining the book that would light your heart and mind on fire if you came across it in a bookstore—the one that would quicken your pulse and keep you up all night reading. What would it be? Details, details: when, where, what, who? Think it up, imagine it fully, then bring it forth. That’s the book you should be writing.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/54760-5-writing-tips-from-laini-taylor.html

Tip #324: Foreshadowing through myth

if you are writing a novel and creating your own world... consider whether to include your own legendary beasts and monsters, things that aren’t real but which some of your characters could conceivably believe in. ... A culture’s myths and legends... [can] serve... to warn the reader that they would encounter many a strange thing

 http://www.davidfarland.com/writing_tips/?a=254

Myths & legends can also be a great way to make info-dumps interesting, influence character behaviour, or highlight clues and red herrings while adding flavour to the world.

Tip #323: Compelling dialogue

imagine watching your scene, but in a foreign language with the subtitles turned off. What does the talking feel like? What’s the emotion behind the words? Who’s in control?
...
Let’s say Bob needs to tell Mary that her dog has been eaten by a python. As the writer, you need to decide not only what facts Bob knows, but how he’s anticipating Mary will react to the news. This will determine not only how he starts the conversation (“Say, you were talking about how you wanted to get a new dog, right?”) but every subsequent decision along the way.

http://johnaugust.com/2007/how-to-write-dialogue

Mary should also have her own (often conflicting) objective, even it's just something like getting Bob out of her house so she can change and get to work on time.

Digital Piracy & the Writer

PIRATING DIGITAL PROPERTY IS... taking something that someone has put effort into, in the hopes of making a living, and giving them nothing in return.

http://blog.maxwellalexanderdrake.com/2013/05/05/on-the-topic-of-piracy---part-two.aspx

Tip #322: Character motivations

to sift through an array of possible motivations... The way to do that is not to ask, “What would make one man kill another?” Unless you’re a telepath... Better to ask, “What would make me kill someone?”

http://www.sfwa.org/2005/01/you-and-your-characters/

Tip #321: Learning through teaching

at some point in anything you practice, you stop learning new things--until you start teaching what you already know to others.

http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/1698.html?thread=18082#t18082
Comment by jimbutcher Feb 11 2005, 01:13:33 UTC

Tip #320: Organic character growth

if your characters are doing things, even small things, those things will {often} change your characters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vm6ttFHDTE (Christopher Paolini)

sometimes just in small ways, but small changes add up.

Tip #319: Obstacles

Brick walls are not there to keep us out. Brick walls are there to show how badly we want something.

– Randy Pausch (found here)

Or how badly our characters want something.  What are your characters' brick walls?