We'll build our character as we write along, adding descriptions and actions and dialogue.  But there is a way with only one or two sentences to reveal something powerful and memorable about the character--in just a few words--and I'll talk about the technique here.  Also, Joyce Carol Oates's rules of writing.  And punctuating dialogue, with important techniques about our character's spoken sentences so that our dialogue is a clear window to the story.

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Jack Bickham's three sentences on scene construction are the best I've found regarding how to write a scene.  Here are why these sentences are important for us writers.  Also: Sarah Ann Waters' terrific ten rules of writing.  And avoiding the word "not."

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Many listeners are writing literary novels and stories.  Here is an important technique regarding construction of a literary story, and it also applies to commercial novels.  

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The easiest thing for a reader to do is to quit reading our story.  Here are ways to begin and end scenes that'll prevent that from happening.  Our scenes' beginnings and endings will propel the reader farther into the story.

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Stephen King is a powerful storyteller, of course, and he is also a highly-skilled sentence-by-sentence writer.  Here are his tips on writing dialogue, plus thoughts from me about making our characters' dialogue riveting. 

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Readers love first person novels, where the hero talks directly to the reader.  Here are some techniques for first person writing.  Also, famous novelists reveal the books that made them want to be writers.

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Usually I talk about writing techniques but here are some living techniques for us writers.  And some famous writers' favorite writers and novels.  Plus: what Ernest Hemingway did when he was stuck.  Also: the magic of avoiding dialogue tag modifiers.  And Snoopy.  

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How can an injury be good for us writers?  It was for Roald Dahl.  And here are Strunk and White's twenty-one rules of writing.  Also, Stephen King on descriptions.  And several famous setting descriptions, settings so good they are magical.  Plus, Toni Morrison reveals how she works.

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A strong way to make a character likeable, and to have the reader root for her, is to have the character experience "otherness."  She's out of place.  She doesn't fit.  Here are techniques on how to do so.  Also, how F. Scott Fitzgerald worked.  And, no whining.

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Contrast is among the strongest tools we writers can use.  It's magic.  Here is a discussion of how and where to use contrast.  Also, Henry Miller's rules of writing and how John Grisham works.

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We can show (as opposed to tell) about a character's personality by describing the character's face and body, so that our physical description does double duty.  Jonathan Franzen's ten rules of writing.  And techniques to add atmosphere to our scenes.

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