On writing a novel

Tips for writing

Please remember that the best writers also read.  Don't just sit and write all day.  You need to take a break and pick up a book once in a while.  Try reading several genres, but read a lot of novels in the particular genre that you are interested in.  Be an active reader and keep a pad of paper and a pencil handy.  Jot down ideas here and there like;   How is this writer giving his/her character voice?  How is he/she setting up the scene, and be sure to remember those dialogue tags.  Check out a few books and you'll see, as you read, what I mean by this.  You can't just write the dialogue without following a set of rules.
   For instance, each character's dialogue starts a new paragraph.  You don't know how many times I have critiqued a work and found that the character's dialogue bled into one another and the reader has absolutely no idea who is speaking or doing what.
   Also, you need to give the reader a reason to care about the characters in your story.  Make the reader either love the character or hate the character, but never have the reader wondering why he/she gives a rip about what 's happening to your hero/heroine.  Also, give the hero/heroine a reason for moving forward in the story.
  Check this out!  You have a hero hell bent on finding a man who killed several women.  If you don't give him a serious reason for doing this, like someone very close to him was murdered, then the reader wonders what the heck is driving this man to pursue a killer when he could very well leave it up to the authorities and be sitting at the bar somewhere having a great time.
 You also need to make your characters believable.  You can't have a perfect hero/heroine who never makes a mistake, never loses their tempers, never...  You see what I mean?  Give them funny quirks or make the hero a bit arrogant, but then let him slowly change throughout the story.  Keep things interesting and please, please, make your characters interesting.