Tell them what's normal so that they know what's not

Set up expectations, then delay (or delay resolution by slowing the pace, getting in the juicy details, or delay explanations with action)

Misdirection (without lying to the reader)

Don't resque the character: give him a choice and let him mess up

Microtension: must be ever-present. Detected by how reading makes us feel. 

Dancing around the subject

Words that contradict each other can create conflict

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Adventure techniques:

• silence
• delayed regret
• social exclusion
• defense of ideas

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humorous villain? (Build before entrance).

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Give a unique reason as to why a species is dominant is a fantastic worldbuilding tool to create a unique species and culture.

feeding/reproducing/not dying

weather and climate / predators / competition / tax / food and water sources / available resources / terrain / other

technological development / sports / local myths / role of crime / role of media / social etiquette / economy and industry / cooking

Biological pressures and climate affect culture. But higher order species slowly override natural selection and other more socially constructed pressures begin to guide.

(species that used to be slaves?)

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Races have stereotypes but individuals rarely fit them completely

worldbuilding: consistency > realism

Fantasy and alien races are used to explore modern social issues by coding the species to represent a particular group in a society. This is often unconvincing and heavy-handed. Consider having the race face similar issues without being identical.

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What makes a prologue necessary is that it introduces an element fundamental in understanding the novel from that point forwars in a far more impactful way. When it comes to a backstory-prologue, only introduce elements immediately relevant to understanding the first chapter.

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redemption arc

stakes / view of self / view of the world

-do small things differently, then big things

-mistakes/moral failures make the eventual triumph more empowering

-effective redemption often entails some kind of poetic justice and symmetry

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You never want to create characters that sound like a mouthpiece for your ideas. Good writers expose their moral vision slow and subtly, primarily through story structure and the way the hero deals with a particular situation.

The mentor in action-reaction scenes ensures that they see past one of the six steps (goal/obstacle/outcome/reaction/dilemma/decision) that they'd be unable to go alone

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_,_ and _, Bob was exactly what was wrong with the world and he knew it.

My dog is a serial killer.