
Thanks for checking out my top tips!
Here's number two and it's one of my toppest.
Newton's Third Law of Motion
Did Isaac Newton (1642ish – 1726ish), famous for falling apples and gravity, realise he had a very important thing to say about writing fiction? As a scientist and natural philospher, he described how the real world works. As writers of fiction we are trying to bring the same sense of reality to our fictional worlds. Newton's first and second laws of motion, here, are worth checking out but it is the third which is particularly relevant for us. It states that...
for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction
When something, anything, happens in your story how do your characters react? What do they do? They might not appear to do anything, which in itself is a reaction - for example, freezing at the news of a sudden death. But they will react in a way that is appropriate for what has just happened and is consistent with their own character – their equal and opposite reaction.
The 'something happening' could be an event - a thunderclap, a brick through a window, a leaf falling. In which case the reaction will, initially, be something external to your characters. For example, a thunderclap may send the dog whimpering under the table!
The 'something happening' will often be the action of another character, from a kick on the shin to a kiss. Each of these happenings will have an effect on the character on the receiving end and cause them to react. Your job is to choose the reaction most effective for moving your story on, the story's motion - see what I did there? Speech is also a reaction but without the character reacting physically, speech can become a disembodied voice in space, causing your story to stray into 'telling' and loosen the grip it has on the reader.
For the point of view character, reader and writer has the advantage of an internal reaction, emotional and/or rational. So when something happens in your story your first question should be What is your character going to do? and a very close second, How does it make them feel? followed by What do they think about it? Non point of view characters can also give us emotional reactions to events by what they do and to a less effective extent by what they say. I think of it like a spectrum...

The physical reactions contribute to the action of your story, the emotional reactions, the heart. Rational reactions - internal monologue or speech - are useful for giving the reader a little break!
Like strong verbs, reactions are more muscles for your story.
If you already have a draft...
Choose a nice bright colour and highlight the story's happenings - character actions, events large and small.
Weigh each one – How important are they to the story? Is anything happening as a result? Is the reaction equal to the event/character action? Fix accordingly!
If you don't have a draft...
Here's a great list of ideas for characters from Reedsy.
Pick one, then take them on a journey - throw trouble in their way!
How do they react?
How does everyone around them react to the 'trouble'?
How do they react to your character?
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