Ready Player One

"Give the reader some level of detail to visualize the scene you're painting."

"To be believable, characters should not all be the same."

"Good world-building requires thinking out the consequences of your operating premises and having them thoroughly inform the rest of your story."

"Write at the level your audience is comfortable reading."

"Characters Should Express Their Opinions, Not Yours"

"Don't make all your characters you"

"Creativity Requires Input"

"Pick A Metaphor And Stick To It"

"Making a list is not writing"

"Expertise Is Bounded By Lived Hours"

"A Character's Natural Talents Must Be Judiciously Granted"

"Don't betray your underlying premise"

"Don't Announce Your Limitations To The Readers"

"A compelling narrative requires an increase in intensity"

"Don't substitute vagueness for depth"

"Describe Only Necessary Technology And Only As Much As Is Necessary"

"Attend To How You Describe Time"

"Eschew semantic satiation"

"Characters Must Treat Urgent Situations Urgently"

"If you describe potential tension only to immediately defuse it, you've just wasted the reader's time."

"Action requires stakes."

"Excitement requires the existence and persistence of challenging obstacles."

"Morals are for fables."

"Use the contrivance that most easily enables you to communicate the story."

"Don't set up things without paying them off."