#editortips for 08.28.12

@smoulderingsea: Adding "fuck" every other word doesn't make your characters sound older or more badass. Just like they have Tourette's. #editortips*

@smoulderingsea: Being a good crit partner doesn't mean forcing others to write your way. It means helping them improve their way. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: If you're one page from the end and find a story-killing plot hole, start over. Don't just leave it as "good enough." #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Being the hero(ine) doesn't automatically free your protagonist from moral and ethical consequences. Make them suffer. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Life isn't a video game. Enemies will not be perfectly matched to the hero's progressing skill. Your story shouldn't do this. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: If one tidbit of knowledge can save the day immediately, there better be a damned good reason for keeping it secret. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: If you have nonhuman characters, don't ignore how their nonhuman traits affect their everyday lives, perspectives, culture, etc. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Real life has emergency backups. Spare equipment. OSHA. Why are there no safety contingencies in your story? #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Fame isn't a measure of quality. Just because you aren't famous doesn't mean you're not a good writer. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: In that vein, don't measure your writing career by others' standards of success. Find what it means for you and reach for it. #editortips

* @lainasparetime added, "Tourette's doesn't always sound like that, either. Stereotype. My cousin has it and he doesn't swear very often."

About #editortips:
#editortips is a daily rash of tweets from an only partially crazy editor, chock full of random chocolatey morsels about writing, editing, and querying vaguely disguised as helpful pointers and/or really bad humor. I tweet as @smoulderingsea, and try to post with some consistency every weekday at 6PM CST. Weekends optional, depending on if I’m spending yet another Saturday night editing because my social life consists of Netflix and trying to figure out why you need a workout video to show you how to frigging walk.