Tip #82: Getting the job done

if you can provide your characters with enough motivation, you can get them to do whatever job you need them to do. You just need to work it in as you go along.

http://vimeo.com/15696007

Tip #81: That niggling feeling...

Writing a letter to yourself is especially helpful if you're beginning to have anxieties about the story... If you can actually write down what bothers you about your heroine, or your plot, or whatever, the answer to the problem often suggests itself.

http://www.darkwaves.com/sfch/writing/ckilian/

Tip #80: Description in horror

what we’re trying to do in modern horror, is not describe the creatures or the events, but the emotional events that follow those, whether it’s their immediate insanity or fleeing in terror.  The best writers, I think, are the ones who can best match the reactions of their characters to the reactions of their readers.

http://storytellingdream-thief.blogspot.com/2010/09/worldcon-2010-unthinkable-indescribable.html

Tip #79: Driven protagonists

Readers... want a clear understanding of what makes your protagonist tick. What drives her? What motivates her? If her motivations change, there needs to be a clear reason why.

http://jscottsavage.blogspot.com/2011/01/your-protagonist-compass.html

Tip #78: List & Twist

All you do is list up all the things you normally associate with {your starting ideas/genre, etc}... and then you start saying "Well, how could I twist it?... What could be different? What could be something that's not there?... Something that's {the} opposite or just doesn't fit.

http://johndbrown.com/2011/02/how-to-get-and-develop-killer-story-ideas-recording/

Tip #77: Tension

Tension comes from uncertainty.

http://samsykes.com/2010/10/how-to-be-a-boring-wizard/

Tip #76: Extraordinary characters

If you want to write extraordinary women or men, don’t think about them, go out and talk to them.

http://www.blakecharlton.com/2011/02/character/
(You can meet a couple of them in his post)

Tip #75: Thinking

Don’t think and then write it down. Think on paper.

Harry Kemelman
http://writerunboxed.com/2011/02/18/favorite-advice/ (Comment by Therese Walsh)

Tip #74: On the dangers of worldbuilding

Once upon a time, I was really diligent about my worldbuilding. I painstakingly wrote everything out. I catalogued every character’s height, weight, age, looks, religion, interest, blah, blah, blah. I had whole file folders full of crap. But all that happened was that instead of writing, I’d spend years creating character cards and fake botany notebooks. I suppose that was great for Tolkien, but I’ve always wanted to write more than a couple books, and create more than one world.

http://www.rantingdragon.com/interview-with-gods-war-author-kameron-hurley/

She goes on to say that she now writes a setting-light first draft and layers the worldbuilding in during revision.

Tip #73: Even with the best advice in the world...

It’s all about finding your own thing and what works for you.

http://samsykes.com/2010/12/building-societies-taking-names/

Tip #72: Characters memorable through setting

the more depth you give your world, the more unique the character becomes to that world... That’s something I think is key to building memorable characters.

http://www.rantingdragon.com/interview-with-gods-war-author-kameron-hurley/

Tip #71: Write what you know +

Mark Twain said, “Write what you know.”... You can also write about what you want to know.

http://www.genreality.net/the-one-sentence-idea

Tip #70: Character wants

At it’s core, {The Princess Bride is} about nothing more than a man and a woman who fall in love and want to be together.

http://magicalwords.net/edmund-r.-schubert/the-importance-of-wanting-in-fiction/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+MagicalWords+Magical+Words

What do your characters want?

Tip #69: Men actually like romance...

Men actually like romance...To be specific, men like the dynamic.  Men like seeing how it matures and how it evolves and how they eventually get together...  It’s a story, same as seeing how the hero overcomes the forces of evil.

http://samsykes.com/2011/01/sam-sykes-touches-men-and-women/
{Paraphrased:} and a story where one or both of the characters are passive isn't terribly interesting.

Tip #68: Filling the middle

1.       Who is trying to hinder/stop your protagonist(s)?  Do any of them team up/hire help? 
2.       Who is trying to help your protagonist(s)?  How?  Why?  How can it backfire?
3.       Are there any items/skills/strengths (emotional or physical) that they need to gain (or things they need to do/see/learn/events to set in motion) in order to complete their quest?
4.       Any “natural” obstacles? (setting-related problems, although these can be aggravated by things/people related to the plot)
5.       Any “higher powers” testing them? (Gods, politicians, bankers, mad magicians?)

H. R. Filmore's Reminders to Self, June 2009.

Tip #67: Fear

I’m convinced fear is at the root of most bad writing.

Stephen King

Tip #66: Character-driven story

Most of my stories start with an idea, which usually consists of a person in a situation:  a woman who’s the daughter of superheroes, a werewolf who’s a talk radio host.  The process of writing the story is figuring out how that person got into that situation, and what comes out of it.  The situation... defin{es} the character... What had to happen, what did that person have to do and be like to be in that position?  And how does that situation change that character?  Where is she likely to go next, based on the decisions she’s making in response to that situation?  It’s like an oil painting — you keep adding colors and layers until the picture shines through.

http://www.genreality.net/trying-to-explain-characterization