—Look at the plotting tools in your arsenal. Ask which ones you would like to use. Plot in your arguments, reveals, timebombs, reversals, dilemmas, doubling, haunting, foreshadowing, and any other tools that strike your fancy. If there is one that you haven’t thought of using, try thinking of ways that you might fit it in. In particular, look at th

So here is the rule: thinking about a problem is weaker than talking about it, and talking is weaker than taking action.

Remember that just as we can escalate the action of a story, we can also escalate the rooting interest in our characters. Some characters become more likeable, more noble, as we read on. So in order to make a character more likeable, we sometimes have to look at the protagonist and consider ways to surprise the reader. In other words, let your char

Your reader will only care about your story so long as he or she has rooting interest in your characters. Your job early in your story is to create characters that your reader will care about.

In short, the least interesting of all conflicts tend to be man-versus-nature conflicts where no human agency is involved.

the single most effective way to promise a powerful experience is to write an opening that in itself creates an emotional impact.

But if you look at polls, a good sense of humor is what most women will say they want in a man. As a reader, I have to admit that I’m also drawn to characters that are eccentric. By that, I don’t mean that the characters are odd-looking. I’m not going to respond positively to your character just because he has a hunchback and a peg leg. I mean that

when you create your character, I’d suggest that you consider ways to make that character someone that we want to spend time with.

short, take care that you don’t make your characters too vile. If you do give your protagonists weaknesses, a couple of them are sufficient; and if the protagonist recognizes those weaknesses and sees them as something to overcome, then your reader will be much more likely to sympathize with him.