Tip #455: Character masks

People in real life wear masks to protect their real feelings and vulnerability.
Masks peeling away is a dramatic device

http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/12/14/50-narrative-devices-for-non-fiction-storytellers/#more-5652 Slide 26

Tip #454: Passive characters

in language... subjects act, objects are acted upon

http://www.upworthy.com/being-a-sex-object-is-empowering-oh-wait-no-it-s-not-here-s-why-2

Do you want your protagonist to be the subject or the object of your story?

Are your female characters subjects or objects?

Tip #453: On research

On Research... Books are not there to show how intelligent {the author is}. Books are there to show your soul.

http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/10/31/8-writing-tips-from-paulo-coelho/


This doesn't mean no research is ever necessary: it shows something about your soul if you write about a different culture or something else you know little about and choose not to research.

Note: Oops, this one got published a little early - enjoy!

Tip #452: On fear & criticism

no matter what you do with your life someone will criticize you. Cashier? Waiter? Truck driver? Someone isn't going to like something that you did. Some people were born to be d***s.

So fuhgeddaboutit. Write, be criticized, and keep writing. If you're going to be criticized, be criticized for telling your own stories/doing your own thing.

https://www.facebook.com/moseswrites/posts/10151831390322657

Tip #451: It doesn't have to be major, but

HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY... Even if you’re writing a Die Hard rip-off, have something to say about Die Hard rip-offs.

http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/03/13/joss-whedons-top-10-writing-tips/

Tip #450: Finding sparks of life

When a particular character isn't coming to life, I... write out what s/he would say for themselves in an interview.

'Why I did this...'
'why I'm ging to do that...'
'Why I'm right...'

...The reasons and excuses aren't so important, but the perspective is... an assertion of {the character's} own perspective...

self-justifications... don't get into my novels. They do influence... the scene where a character is confronted by the truth about themselves.

http://writingtips.com.au/WRITING%20TIPS%20BRITISH%20version/downloads/wtipscontinuousUK.pdf p 63-64

Tip #449: Stories that sell

The audience has always wanted to absorb stories, always wanted to braid them into their social, intellectual and emotional tapestries.

...It’s about asking, “What do I want to write? What do I love? What do I want to read?” It’s about creating stories and art that are products of wonder and madness

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/07/09/hell-with-what-sells/

Tip #448: Not everyone is the same

Pick two people on the same side of a conflict, but give them completely different motivations for fighting on that side.

http://www.writingexcuses.com/2013/12/08/writing-excuses-8-49-hard-social-science-fiction-with-joel-shepherd/

One of the advantages of using this in a story is it can be a far more subtle way of showing how evil an antagonist is without having them kick a puppy.

Tip #447: That which is unspoken

That which is unspoken defines the relationship.

Given examples:

Those things you won’t talk about.

The apology never given.

The explanation never provided.

The promise never followed through on.

The secret never shared.

The unspoken things that affect our relationships can also be those truths we keep from ourselves rather than the other person. We often hate most in others things that we fear in ourselves.

http://writerunboxed.com/2013/12/13/things-left-unspoken/

Tip #446: The middle

Your protagonist and antagonist don’t know when they’re in the middle of the story... they should be doing everything they can to end the story on the very next page

http://kevinkruse.com/9-writing-tips-from-thrillerfest-2013/

But they're held back by something (maybe a character flaw such as recklessness, or a lack of certain information about the problem or antagonist - usually a combination of things).  So they're making mistakes, mistakes which have consequences.  Often unpleasant consequences.  But these mistakes and consequences and how the protagonist deals with them eventually teach the most stubborn protagonist about the thing which is holding them back (often after their biggest mistake plunges them into the Dark Point).

Tip #445: Why character choice matters

There are very few situations where every human being on the planet will respond the same way, so the cascading series of unique choices they make — each time altering how the story goes — is what makes them — and the story — come alive.

When you’ve done it right, you’ll look at your story and realize that it would have been an altogether different story with any other character in the same situation.

http://www.aisteach.com/blog/?p=1205#more-1205

If you have some situations but no protagonist/antagonist, those situations (and how the characters got into and get out of them) help define your characters.

If you know your characters try asking yourself occasionally what they wouldn't do, and then work out why they'd do it.

Tip #444: Using reader curiosity to create suspense

feed your characters / readers a steady diet of... cues that begin to add up to some conclusion... But the pieces don’t quite add up—so the reader must continue on. You keep your reader guessing.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/crime-writing-competition/10159718/Telegraph-Harvill-Secker-Crime-Writing-Competition-masterclass-Alice-LaPlante-on-suspense.html

One of those pieces of writing advice which can apply equally to writing scenes and whole stories.

Tip #443: Reading the story as a whole

I think one of the most important transitions a writer makes is when they stop relying on the idea to prop up the story and start thinking about how the story reads as {a whole}... In fact, most writers don’t get that far, and you can tell that their fiction is all a lead-up to the reveal of the end, or in support of a strong moment that isn’t actually a whole story.

http://carriecuinn.com/2013/09/20/interview-review-and-links/

Tip #442: Desire + Conflict

Desire + Conflict = Drama

 http://www.danacameron.com/for-writers.html


For story rather than scene, I'd replace Conflict with Opposition (the role played by the antagonist).

Tip #441: Generating suspense

Suspense is generated by the reader caring about what happens next.

http://www.annleckie.com/2013/09/05/basis-suspense/

Tip #440: Surprise!

when you’re looking for an opportunity to create surprise in your plot, ask yourself, “What couldn’t possibly happen?” In other words, stretch your imagination... you’ll probably come up with some surprising directions for your story.

http://www.davidfarland.com/writing_tips/?a=293

Tip #339: Revelations & twists

When... critical information is woven into the story in a way that feels like it’s doing something else in the story, readers, in general, both miss it and remember it when you reveal that it was actually important. If you just mention it without it appearing to do something important, readers wonder why it’s included and are more likely to remember it.

http://www.aisteach.com/blog/?p=1127

What makes the revelation so effective is not that we’ve been waiting for it, but that we never actually suspected it was there to begin with (although of course it was carefully set up for us from nearly the beginning of the film*).

http://www.annleckie.com/2013/09/05/basis-suspense/

Tip #338: Deeper understanding of story

AS AN AUDIENCE MEMBER WE HAVE A PROBLEM IN THAT WE HAVE BASE WANTS AND YET ALSO HAVE GREATER INTELLECTUAL NEEDS. SURE, WE WANT HEROES TO SUCCEED AND BE REWARDED AND ALSO WANT THE WICKED TO BE PUNISHED. WE WANT THESE THINGS BECAUSE THE AVERAGE MOVIEGOER IS SO READY TO PLACE THEMSELVES IN THE PLACE OF THE MAIN CHARACTER. SO READY TO EMPATHIZE AND SEE THROUGH THAT PERSPECTIVE. AND AS PART OF THAT, WE INSTINCTIVELY DEMAND THAT EVERYTHING FALLS IN LINE PERFECTLY WITH THE SUBCONSCIOUSLY INGRAINED EXPECTATIONS OF "HOW STORIES WORK." NOW, SOME PEOPLE MISTAKE THOSE EXPECTATIONS FOR THE CONVENTIONS OF THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE (WHICH DOESN'T EXIST) OR A HOST OF DUMB RULES, BUT IT'S MORE THE SUBCONSCIOUS RULES OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. THERE'S A RHYTHM AND INHERENT TRUTH TO THINGS AND WHEN A MOVIE VIOLATES THAT UNSPOKEN CODE OF ETHICS WE REVOLT

http://badassdigest.com/2013/10/03/film-crit-hulk-smash-alcohol-withnail-and-gary-king/

Tip #337: Ratchet up the suspense

Plot is simply the actions the characters take, the results of their action, and what they decide to do next. Except this can’t be any old action and result. It has to be action and result that builds the anxiety of suspense, surprise, and the mystery or puzzle...

There are four possible answers to the question of “did the hero’s action solve the problem?”: yes, no, yes but, no furthermore.

For example. Yes, you killed the monster. No, you didn’t. Yes, you killed the monster, but it bit you and now you have the virus that’s going to turn YOU into a monster. No, you didn’t kill the monster furthermore you woke up its mumma.

Of those four possiblities, only the last two build suspense and curiosity. The first removes it totally. So it’s out{ except at the end}. And a no answer leaves suspense unchanged. All you’re doing is delaying things with that. What you want to do is ratchet it up.

http://johndbrown.com/2008/12/plot-basics/

Tip #336: It's a small world

Don't ever make another writer's journey harder than it has to be.

http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/885.Matthew_Quick

How can you make another writer's journey easier?  This is what good feedback does.  This is what talking about your writing process and acknowledging it's personal to you can do.

Tip #335: Creating internal conflicts

pick a word that describes your character. For example: He’s compassionate. Then find another word that can also describe your character, but make it a polar opposite—terrorist... Giving a character a dual nature creates an instability, a lack of balance, that probably can’t stay forever.

http://www.davidfarland.com/writing_tips/?a=281

Tip #334: What is cultural appropriation?

Cultural appropriation takes place when a privileged group takes elements of an oppressed culture and uses them as it sees fit, without regard to their importance in the oppressed culture, often deforming them beyond recognition or distorting reality to the point of making the appropriated cultural practice take the place of the authentic one.

http://femmeguy.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/appropriation-of-femmes/

Tip #333: Inciting Incident vs First Turning Point

Your inciting incident... might have as few as one scene or as many as twenty—little snippets where your character discovers that he has a problem and that the problem... is life-altering

http://davidfarland.com/writing_tips/?a=273

Or has the potential to be life-altering.  In a good or bad way.

Tip #332: Making the world a bit more solid

Any... fiction writer, in attempting to present a fleshed out world, will probably several times need to reference something outside the actual story, some past kingdom or mythical animal, some hobby of the lower classes, some religious detail, or a line about, “That time when grandmother got into a drinking contest with a Giant Stoat…” ... making the world a bit more solid.

http://civilian-reader.blogspot.com/2013/05/guest-post-on-worldbuilding-by-lenora.html

Tip #331: Character tone

Each person that you meet has something of an emotional tone about them. Some people are stern most of the time, while others might be thoughtful, pleasant, or excited.

http://www.davidfarland.com/writing_tips/?a=271

Tip #330: What to leave out of a story

Try to leave out the part{s} that readers tend to skip.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonvingiano/elmore-leonards-ten-rules-for-writing-fiction?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=buzzfeed

Tip #329: Using characters' desires to create character arcs

How far will that character go to fulfil their desires? Will he sacrifice the life of a member of his family to stay alive? Will she sacrifice her own life to kill him?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/crime-writing-competition/10159834/Telegraph-Harvill-Secker-Crime-Writing-Competition-masterclass-Stuart-Neville-on-plot.html

Quote taken from video so may not be word perfect.

Character arcs often build up to this question.  It's something we often grapple with daily: how far will we go to satisfy our desire for calorie-rich food?  Will we sacrifice our spare change/diet/figure/health/self-respect/love?  Where is the point when one desire battles with another and we start to question if the original driving desire is worth it?  Where is the point when we decide YES, it's worth it, or NO, it's not?  And what are the consequences of this decision?

The main character arc in Star Wars IV is different.  It's about Luke learning to believe in the Force (and therefore himself) culminating in his choice to trust it (and his own judgement) for a vitally important gamble (and foreshadowing the same decision in Star Wars VI).  But Han Solo has a desire character arc, discovering offscreen he can't abandon his friends in their attempt to destroy the Death Star -- even for money/long life.

Tip #328: The importance of structure

We know that if you experience the same thing over and over again, you get diminishing results. We have to constantly switch things up. That could be with story, characters, environment, or it could be with this "set-piece moment"

http://blog.shelfari.com/my_weblog/2013/07/the-last-of-us-with-neil-druckmann-part-two.html

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/