10 Writing Tips

1. If research is needed, do the research.


2. Show emotion by showing your character’s physical and mental reaction to those emotions.


3. The character should drive the plot, not the other way around


4. The reader does not need to know all the backstory that there is at the very beginning, but they shouldn’t get to chapter 5 and still have no idea who or what the story is about.


5. Actual male/female friendships that are genuinely platonic exist


6. You can show who your character is as a person, through their interactions, through what they want, what they have, who they hang out with, what they say, and what they do.


7. It’s more interesting and convincing to show who a character is via Tip #6 than it is to simply tell the readers “She’s kind, brave, pretty, driven etc. etc.”


8. A Mary Sue ruins the story not because she’s perfect but because the story flows around her in a very boring and unrealistic way.


9. Strong Female Characters do not have to be Butch, it is totally possible to retain and embrace femininity while still being a strong character.


10. There are a lot of different kinds of strength that characters can possess, just as there are with people in real life. By limiting ourselves and our characters to one kind of strength when we write, we ignore and lose the depth and realism that a balance of different strengths can contribute to a piece of writing.