More General Writing Tips....
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On Characterization:

Character development is important, and something I have trouble with. I would like my characters to seem real and either lovable, sympathetic, or distasteful. Perhaps the character sketch or cheat sheet suggested by Alsobrook would be a good place for me to start. I have not done that in the past because I have only written short stories with few characters, so I could keep character traits in my mind. For a novel, however, I can see that an initial character sketch would be needed.

On Dialogue:

My second assignment in Level 1 turned out to be mostly dialog, and I saw that it did tell the story well as Alsobrook said it would. I got complements on the dialog, and I think that is what got me promoted to Level 2.

On Scene and Sequel:

This is good advice for a multi-chapter novel. In my short stories I have had one scene and one sequel that just flow together without my giving the sequence much thought.

Burn the "Deadwood"

This is good advice. A teacher once told me that, after I had written something, I should go back over it and eliminate as many words as possible without changing the meaning. I have tried to do this and it makes a great difference in readability. At first I thought it made the writing choppy, but when I read it again later I could see it was a lot better.

Let You’re Characters Lead You to Your Plot

This is good advice, and I think it will help character development, which I need.

Dialect

So far, I have not had need for dialect, but this seems like good advice. I do try to give each of my characters a distinctive voice, vocabulary, and way of putting things, so the reader can almost recognize a character by the way he says what he says.

The Pros and Cons of Outlining

In English class I had to hand in the outline along with my story or report to show the teacher I had used it. I always wrote the story first and the outline second, and I still do this. I have found it very helpful, however, to use the standard headings in Microsoft Word. I can then switch back and forth between draft and outline views, which lets me work on both at the same time.

How can I Become a Better Writer?

This is good advice, and I think one learns to follow it by writing. That is why I find the writing that is assigned here in the block to be so helpful. By actually writing I have learned how to do many of the things mentioned here. I especially like: “Every word in your piece should be there for a reason, and you should know the reason.”

Writing Tips from fellow Authors

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JR Parz Writing Tips

I like this advice, and I think many of the stories here in the Library could benefit from it. I also like Parz’s emphasis on erotic fiction. I started writing erotic stories as a way of enhancing the pleasure of my own fantasies. In fact, until I came to the Library, that was my only purpose for writing them. So, I have a few unfinished and unpolished stories on my hard disk. Now the feedback that I have received from the one story that I have posted here (written some time ago) has encouraged me to try to improve my writing for the enjoyment of others. I have always written from the POV of the female character, and I like Parz’s explanation of why this is best. I agree.

I liked Parz’s advice so much that I looked up the only story he has posted in the Library. I think Parz would do well to follow his own advice more closely. Since I don’t like supernatural stories that make impossible things happen, I may have been prejudiced, but I doubt this story will turn on female readers. I don’t think it will captivate female readers to have the heroine screaming in a public restroom to a man she has just met, and whose name she does not know, the following: “Fuck me!” she cried. . . “Fuck me!”