1. Vary your sentence structure. A choppy story is a bad story!
2. Don't describe for the sake of describing. Your goal is to show a story, not tell it - USE STRONG NOUNS AND VERBS SO YOU WON'T HAVE TO USE LOTS OF ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES TO HAMMER HOME THE DESCRIPTION. Biggie there.
3. Make sure your writing makes sense to people other than you - badd grammar or overzealous esoterica is BAAAD.
4. Don't spend too long on one subject. Your readers will get bored if you can't find a way to keep it fresh.
5. AVOID USING TOO MANY ADVERBS. ONE OR TWO PER CHAPTER IS GOOD.
6. If you're making a character, item, or area that is NOT important to the story and lasts only a short time, then don't bother going into detail about it. Just give your readers a general idea of what it's like.
8. Describe all your main characters in detail. No one can relate to a character they know nothing about. 9. VOCABULARY. Use big words. However, do not use to big, or your audience may not know what you're talking about. 10. Action and suspense. These two characteristics will keep a reader interested, as there is substance to it, and a feeling of wanting more.
11. Don't introduce too many characters at one time. Take it slow, so that your readers can get a better feel for your characters. Two or three characters at a time. 12. Try to be completely original. I know that there is always some story similar to another new one, but readers are interested by out-of-the-box thinkers. 13. Don't forget about point of view. If it's from your character's eyes, then describe what they're thinking, and don't use other character's point of view. Stay solid on your point of view, as readers can become confused if you don't. 14. Try not to use pronouns such as "he", "she",or "they" too often, or else your readers won't know who you are referring to. They don't want to hear the name too often either, the trick is to find the balance. Also, using nouns such as "the hobbit" instead of "Bilbo" or "he"is a good chance to pop some adjectives in there or use a strong word.
