Disclaimer: as the title suggests, this might not be the most reliable advice ever written. This stuff all works for me (except when it doesn't; it's called 'writer's block' and sooner or later it afflicts us all) but there's no guarantee that it will work for anyone else. The exception to this is the one on words; although there are always exceptions to these rules, you have to be a very experienced writer to pull them off. I'm probably gonna add more tips every time I think of them. List of tip topics: 1. Reading 2. Grammar and punctuation 3. Plotting 4. Ideas 5. Overthinking 6. Three-dimensional characters 7. Gender 8. Villains 9. Beginning 10. Words 11. Perfectionism TV Tropes is a wiki that analyses tropes, funnily enough, in popular media. It's not as family friendly as it pretends to be, so I won't be responsible for directly recommending it on a kid's website. However, if you're mature enough to browse with discretion, it's a great resource for writers. (Also don't browse it on a day where you plan to do anything productive. Those links are addictive.) I mention it here because, based on some of the book recommendations that make into the SWOW magazine, some of the people who will read this are absolutely mature enough to read it. Music is 'Path of the Wind' from Joe Hisaishi's score to the Studio Ghibli film 'My Neighbour Totoro'.
