Tip #95: Quiet themes

write your theme quietly... so that it's not rising up at the end of the novel and overpowering the story (stiletto in the ribs vrs a mallet)

http://www.adventuresinscifipublishing.com/2010/12/aisfp-106-guy-gavriel-kay/


Note: This quote was taken from a podcast and isn't word perfect, although it's close  : )

Tip #94: Show, don't tell

When I find myself writing things like "The city was cluttered and cosmopolitan." I know I'm doing it wrong. When I write "A pair of grey dogs dodged between the crushing wagon wheels and the hooves of uneasy horses, navigating the close-packed, dust-aired street with the ease of fish in a river. When the priestess's wailing call to prayer cut through the clatter of cobblestones and the shouting of carters, the men in the street nodded to the north and touched paired fingers to their throats without apparent thought or even awareness." then I feel better.

http://orullian.com/writing/danielabraham_interview.html

Tip #93: Actions & intentions

I’ve noticed two schools of thought in how people see a character. One goes by their actions. The other decides by the intentions. If both are in sync, it’s fairly easy to make snap judgments. It’s when things don’t match up that it gets interesting.

http://dun-scaith.blogspot.com/2010/10/guest-post-david-dalglish-likable.html

Tip #92: Work ethic

the really successful people seem to be the ones who mix a good measure of work ethic with a good measure of talent or skill or craft or whatever you want to call it.

http://www.adventuresinscifipublishing.com/2011/02/aisfp-113-writing-excuses/

The podcast mentioned David Farland's method of keeping himself going:
Think of the people slaving away in third world countries and ask yourself "can I write another page right now?"
Brandon Sanderson imagines a "phantom cubicle" chasing him - if it catches up, he'll have to get a "real" job.

Tip #91: Living with the story

story ideas... lose their punch over time in your own mind. It’s not until you get them in front of fresh eyes, or pitch them to new ears, that you realize, remember, or understand for the first time in a lightning-strike epiphany that, yes, you’ve really got something.

http://davidanaxagoras.com/2011/03/14/the-joke-is-still-funny/

Tip #90: Practicalities of irresistibility

in your query letter, you want to make the reader believe that all hell is about to break loose--and then leave them dangling, with no idea of how it ends. This should effectively make them frantic to read the book itself. (Note that when I say "all hell is about to break loose", that can also mean a quiet, internalized hell. Introspective novels also focus on escalating conflicts, but the conflict can take place inside the protagonist's head or heart.)

http://querygoblin.blogspot.com/2011/02/query-writing-craft-part-1.html

TIp #89: Deepest secrets

What won't your character do?  What would they die before doing?  And what do they say they would die before doing? 

H. R. Filmore's Reminders to Self, March 2011

Tip #88: Food for thought

The idea of closure is this: when you've got one {comic} panel where Superman is winding up to hit Lex Luther, and in the next Luther is flying across the room, your mind supplies the middle panel where Luther's getting punched. You may almost see that punch and not even be aware that you, the reader, are providing the closure.

http://www.adamgidwitz.com/warning-boring/my-ideas/one-crucial-criterion-for-a-good-book

Tip #87: Subtext

write an entire scene that appears to be about one thing but is really about something else entirely.

http://screenwritingtips.tumblr.com/ Tip #552

Tip #86: Character strengths

we create characters who have a weakness, an incompetence; there is a power imbalance somewhere. And often what ends up solving these stories for the protagonists is that they're able to go back to something that is a strength for them.

http://www.writingexcuses.com/2011/03/06/writing-excuses-5-27-perseverance/

Tip #85: Excitement

I have a theory that if the author is excited by the scene they are writing, excited by what is coming next... that excitement and anticipation can carry over to the reader.

H.R.Filmore's Reminders To Self, March 2011.

Tip #84: The loss of potential

Writing is the act of collapsing the... potential of the blank paper sheet down to a single narrative... That’s why some people never get the courage to write their story: they can’t deal with that loss of potential.

http://www.garethlpowell.com/collapsing-the-wave-function/

This is one of the things that most frequently blocks me.

Tip #83: Linking storylines

the A, B and C storylines in a TV episode are usually thematically linked... Even if readers don’t consciously notice it, they’ll feel it.

http://screenwritingtips.tumblr.com/ Tip #548

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