Some people keep an idea notebook because they are always forgetting things. Some do not. This is an exercise in story preservation. The bad ideas self-destruct and are forgotten. The good ideas keep floating to the top.Stephen King advises you not to keep an idea notebook, for the reasons in the last sentence. Good ideas keep coming up to the top, bad ideas get forgotten. I’ve seen other authors recommend an idea notebook though. I don’t see an idea notebook having an adverse effect on idea frequency. If I have one idea for a story, I’ll have many more, if it’s good. The more I have the better it is.…

Make your characters act in a way that keeps things happening, and seems reasonable to the reader. All characters do things based on anger, fear, happiness, disgust, shame/guilt, sadness, desire, pity, love, discovery, and other emotions. In other words, they act based on how they feel.This has a bit to do with characterization, which I admit I’m not the strongest with, given my history with fan fiction (where you don’t need to characterize). I don’t see this as being a big problem in my works or many works I read. It has to do with A) characters acting the way the reader thinks they’re gonna act and B) Having the…

As any young ambitious writer does, when they find a subject of interest they devour any and all factoids available, like Pac-Man munching pellets. And the foremost idea writers are interested in is writing. And even Pac-Man couldn’t clear all the mazes of yellow writing tip dots out there on the interwebs and books. However, like the pellets, they’re all pretty much the same, and pretty much functionless. They’re either obvious, intuitive, or don’t fit in with your own writing style. That doesn’t mean they’re not fun to read. So from time to time (when I have nothing else to write about, I’ll put one up here and see if…