Quick Tips: Craft & Technique

Writer’s Little Instruction Book: Craft & Technique by Paul Raymond Martin

Published Sep 30, 2008 2:09 PM PDT

If you get everything else wrong, but move the reader with your emotion, you have succeeded.
Conflict among choices of the mind may intrigue the reader. Conflict among choices of the heart will involve the reader.
Rule of thumb: Your main character should fail at least twice to resolve the story problem, then succeed.

Scott Francis is a former editor and author of Writer's Digest Books.