The joy of writing is in
Setting up your heroes to win
But only after a decent fight
With a villain who’s more than just might.
No cariactures then! The most interesting villains are those with depth to them, where you can see why they’re acting the way they are without agreeing with them of course (unless you prefer villains to heroes!).
Heroes also need to be realistic - no supermen/women, you want to see their flaws and virtues. I’ve sometimes found heroes aggravating for being too perfect, which is exactly what you want to avoid. And what they fight about has got to be worth fighting over. Something that’s going to hurt someone badly if they lose...
The way to really write well
Is to ignore all the hell
Of edits and rewrites
They help make the work right
Remember to show, not tell!
I think it best to assume you never write anything perfectly first go. There’s little that can’t be improved with a second or third or fourth read through. You will pick things up you missed as you wrote the work. Also as you read through again and again, is the story still gripping you? If so, good! It’s got life in it.
If you’re not gripped you may have a problem. You will come to a point when you genuinely feel you can’t edit it any more. That’s the point to send the work out and test the market with it, but the story itself you should still care about deeply.
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