Author: Greg Kosson
Date:   11-01-09 20:35

I agree with Janice and Cindy, especially the idea of cheap thrills. I used to resist that but by and large, it's what readers want.

One of the most common mistakes I've seen writers including myself make is the information dump. The thought is that the reader needs a truckload of background information to understand the story. The writer then proceeds to unload a dump truck full of informational nuggets the reader has to dig through before getting to the plot.

It's more like Cindy says. The truck needs to be moving at all times. You can let nuggets fall off the truck into the roadway now and then, but they should never actually block the road.