Tip #143: Play with your tools

experiment, write by hand, write on different types of paper, write using crayons or whatever medium you want and see what happens...

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2011/07/video-hannu-rajaniemi-talks-about-mathematics-and-writing-fiction/

Tip #142: Peer Pressure & expectations

Are you the same person when you are home lounging around on your own as when you're out on a date or at a company party? Are you the same person around your friends on a Saturday night as with your kids?


different characters bring out different sides of your protag

Quote 1: http://paranormalpointofview.blogspot.com/2011/07/when-your-character-doesnt-act-like.html
Quote 2: http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2011/07/characters-who-push.html?spref=tw (comment by Lisa Gail Green)

Tip #141: A writer's voice

Voice goes much deeper than the style of how words are strung together on paper or screen. Voice reflects what you believe, what you know, what you understand, what you have experienced in life... when it comes to spending several months of your life writing one, it’s going to reflect who YOU are deep inside. Your cares and concerns, your beliefs, and your passions... that’s why Voice cannot be duplicated. No two souls are alike.

http://harrypotterforwriters.blogspot.com/2011/06/giving-voice-to-boy-who-lived.html
If you're having trouble finding your voice, try baring your soul.

Tip #140: The "love interest"

there’s a profound difference between a love interest whose only investment in the plot is their attachment to the hero, and a fully functioning character who develops into a love interest.

http://fozmeadows.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/bechdel-matters/

Tip #139: Happiness

if you're not living a happy life prior to being published, being published is not going to be the thing that suddenly makes you happy.

http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-voice-nathan-bransford-on-jacob.html

Tip #138: What is your plot?

Maybe you have the most original basic premise evar — but that's not your plot. Your plot is how your new widget changes the people in your story, and how it affects their lives. Or what decisions your people make as a result

http://io9.com/366707/8-unstoppable-rules-for-writing-killer-short-stories

Tip #137: Even bestsellers have 1-star reviews

write your own 1-star view... This will help you anticipate the 1-star reviews you'll get, as well as a chance to fix it.

http://critiquecircle.com/forums.asp?action=viewforum&thread=853477&offset=60 (post by Tiaclare)

Tip #136: Buck the trends

the books I enjoy reading most are books I would never in a million years have thought of myself.

http://madwomanintheforest.com/wfmad-day-28-question-day-one/ (Philip Pullman)

Tip #135: Opening chapter difficulty?

trouble with opening chapters usually means they can be cut.

http://madwomanintheforest.com/wfmad-day-28-question-day-one/