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If this is a script being read over a video, then use #1, as #2 doesn't give enough information. It makes me want to hunt around and find actual directions. Suggested fixes: I've never heard "c...
Write a plot with tension. As an example, Christopher Moore writes incredibly funny fantasy novels (demons, angels, vampires) with real plots, rounded characters, and genuine tension. So figure ...
You have two items to consider: what makes a person likable, and why you would sympathize with someone. Why you find a person appealing is a matter of taste. But when you sympathize with someone,...
I would say this is extremely common in comedy, and much more difficult in drama. And even in comedy, a likable character can win sympathy very very easily even if he's totally unsympathetic - in f...
An analogue: I had a friend in college who was a choreographer. She had recently presented a piece to rave reviews, and was amused that one of the moments which got the most positive attention was...
1) Stop fixing everything at once. Write your first round to get it on paper. On your second round, pick one thing to fix: sharpen your rhymes, for example. Next round, work on the meter. Let...
I like a mix of dialog tags and action tags. You should definitely break up paragraphs of speech with stage business and action tags. Dean Wesley Smith had an advice piece for writers which I ran...
Every human being strives to establish a place in the world, to be seen and accepted in a certain way. Their voice, the way they react to each situation, is developed in an attempt to establish an...
Have you tried a plain ol' spreadsheet?
It is perhaps worth pointing out that in the 6.5 years since the question was originally asked, Microsoft had made Word available on Android. Whatever you think of Word as a writing app, there is a...
I'm just posting a second answer rather than try to force this into 500 characters: I kept your first sentence, although I punctuated it to sound like actual speech. I can certainly hear the inton...
I have not read it but Soon I Will Be Invincible is the closest I can think of to what you're proposing, other than the excellent short story collection If I Were an Evil Overlord, inspired by the ...
I know this answer is very late to the party, but I do not ever take a trait unique to a single friend. Ever! It seems like a shortcut to me, that would be harmful for the exact reason the OP put ...
I would use a (very) few invented vocabulary words to indicate specific items which are unique to your created race, but put them in context so that the reader can quickly divine the meaning, or ex...
Because you can't see your own mistakes. You know, in your head, what you want your story to accomplish. You know who you want to end up with whom. You know who you want to punish, and who you wan...
If you're easy distracted by shiny things (or Twitter, your RSS feed, Facebook page, chat window, weather updates, email, or desktop photo) then having a program which blocks them all out may help ...
The last line or lines should have some reason for being there. They can: be suspenseful ("What are you doing here?") be funny ("Tinkerty-tonk," I said, and I meant it to sting.) close a scene (S...
Find a good editor, and when you hand over the manuscript, let the editor know that this is a particular issue for you, and ask the editor to keep an eye out for it. If you know that you read a lot...
Am I allowed to beat the drum for Scrivener again? :) Scrivener is a tremendously flexible writing program which allows you to rearrange your items easily, by dragging around icons, by putting up...
Read P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories, particularly Aunt Agatha.
Well, that's a complex question :P There's lots of different kinds of complexity, requiring different tools - a complex character is different than a complex setting; a complicated plot is differe...
A few strategies: Until you have a great plot, try writing "good-enough" plots. Better to be writing something with a cliche plot, than not to be writing at all. (Edited to add: Also, sometimes o...
I highly recommend The Writer's Journey, a writing manual which shows you how to create a Hero's Journey story structure. Seriously, you get about two chapters in and you have to stop yourself from...
There's a saying I heard in a writing workshop: If you don't know what you want to say or how you want to say it, write a novel. If you know what you want to say, but not how you want to say it, ...
Formal definitions vary. Here are some resources explaining various versions of the distinctions: An editorial services guide. An editor's blog. Another editor's blog.
