Tip #187: Seriously stuck

when I get seriously stuck, I... map out exactly what the villains are doing, that alone is often enough to snap the plot back into place.

http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-i-plot-novel-in-5-steps.html

Tip #186: Enjoy this time

The very best time to write is right now, before you’ve had anything published, before anyone knows who you are and what your voice sounds like. You can write without any publisher (or reader) expectations. You can do whatever you want. ENJOY THIS TIME! As soon as you publish a book, that changes.

http://www.sarahselecky.com/2011/the-best-unsolicited-advice-ive-ever-received/

Tip #185: Crazy twists

it’s not the crazy twists in your story that I find unrealistic, it’s your characters’ reactions

@FakeEditor

Tip #184: Repetition

go through your manuscript and write down the first sentence of each chapter. Are you repetitive?

@sjaejones

The same method could be used to check last lines, hooks, mood, stakes and anything else you're concerned about.

Tip #183: Mystery

Mystery plots -- where our heroine needed to uncover a piece of information... as forces or people worked to keep that information from her.

http://chavelaque.blogspot.com/2011/12/behind-book-three-things-writers-can.html

Tip #182: The connecting scenes

while I was writing out my little description of what I was going to write... I would play the scene through in my mind and try to get excited about it. I'd look for all the cool little hooks, the parts that interested me most, and focus on those since they were obviously what made the scene cool. If I couldn't find anything to get excited over, then I would change the scene, or get rid of it entirely.

http://thisblogisaploy.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-i-went-from-writing-2000-words-day.html

Thank you



The Golden Haystack celebrates it's first birthday today, and I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for following and reading.  I can say without reservation that the 181st tip would not be being posted today if it hadn't been for the readers.  You've had me scrolling through twitter looking for links late at night, when my mind has been hazy with tireness, and so many of those nights I've bumped into something that's - if not swept the tiredness from my mind - at least swept it under the carpet and given me a precious couple of hours of writing when otherwise I would... have gone to bed.  Hang on. . . ;)

Thank you.  I hope you find the blog as useful a resource as I do.  And if you haven't looked already or recently, I highly recommend the articles listed on the Great Articles page.

Ivory

(Click on the cake for the recipe)

Tip #181: Craft is a means to an end

I want to remind writers to not only learn craft and polish skills and to plot and plan their stories.

I want to remind them to bring passion to those stories. I want to encourage them to write with abandon and pleasure and giddiness. To write without restraint.

To write with fire.

http://theeditorsblog.net/2011/11/20/write-with-fire/

Tip #180: Everyone has regrets

What regrets are your main characters harboring? How do those things influence their actions?

http://fantasy-faction.com/2011/disney-parents-dead-mothers-and-absent-fathers#utm_source=feedandutm_medium=feedandutm_campaign=feed

Tip #179: Found knowledge > given knowledge

For me, writing is reverse engineering... a problem-solving session of finding out what, exactly, I have to do to make that mood happen. It's like those writing exercises where you have to describe someone as tall without ever saying the word "tall." Found knowledge is always more valuable than given knowledge; the reader needs to draw their own conclusions.

http://maggiestiefvater.blogspot.com/2011/11/dissecting-pages-for-mood.html