Notes:Rules for Writing


 * 1) People don't have alignments, they have motives. Baddies don't do bad things for Teh Evulz, they do them because they believe it's right or necessary or to their advantage. Good guys do things for the same reasons.
 * 2) Kill off characters regularly but judiciously. Anyone can die at any time, for any reason. (Except my protagonist, who has to be alive to tell the story.)
 * 3) Leave no plot thread unfinished. If something happens, then doesn't go anywhere for two acts, you'd better come back to it.
 * 4) No ass-pulls. Just don't.
 * 5) Don't ever make a planet Planetville. Earth has a lot of variety in terms of climate, terrain, urbanization, ethnicity, culture, etc. Other planets should, too, even if only implicitly.
 * 6) No cruft. You don't need a ton of in-depth explanation of things unless they matter. (Cruft on the wiki is fine, though.)
 * 7) Don't break the fourth wall. Just don't.
 * 8) Nothing is set in stone. Just because you already wrote it down doesn't mean you can't change your mind.
 * 9) Don't write drunk. You are not Ernest Hemingway.
 * 10) There is no shame in backing up and taking a break for a few days. Sometimes you need to clear your head and reset.
 * 11) There are guidelines, not rules. Storytelling always comes first.
 * 12) Have fun. If it's a chore to write, it'll probably be a chore to read.