Enter: Low-Content Mode
(NOTE: Based on time elapsed since the posting of this entry, the BS-o-meter calculates this is 15.678% likely to be something that Ferrett now regrets.)
Since I’m sick, I’ll instead point you at Cat Valente’s post on writing over here – as is the case with all writing advice (and this is part three of a huge post), there’s some I agree and disagree with, but points #6 and #7 here are fixtures in my writing canon.
In particular, a chat with her on #7 really helped me focus my novel. When developing fake cultures, understanding What Is Known To Be True is a very good guideline for creating cultures and then picking them apart (as I tend to do in my stories, where it’s not just the characters at stake, but their understanding of the world they live in – check “Devour” for an example of that in action).
Anyway, good stuff. Useful. As this should be if I’m, you know, going to point to it.