THIS IS NOT A REVIEW. Lawl X]

Thanks for this. I've been considering writing a guide for a while. I might finally get around to doing it when I finish my new story... which is going to take a LONG time to finish. But still, I think this was helpful, although a little difficult to concentrate on. Maybe I'm tired.

I'm serious, you cannot go to the book store's young adult section and pull down one book off the shelf without seeing about fifty others that are romance. I am SO sick of it! The PLOT is important. I personally prefer to put emphasis on character relationships such as friendship and family in my stories, and I agree with you. All this romance sickens me. I'm still at the point where it makes me gag and retch.

VAMPIRES DO NOT A HORROR MAKE! I am too tired to leave a decent review, but then, neither of my previous reviews have been decent either, so whatever. And yes, shovels ARE a weapon. I need to write a zombie story. I was planning on writing one, and it was in no way a horror, but I just couldn't figure out how to write the government. (sigh) You explained horror really well; I have a friend trying to write a horror and I really need to show her this.

Hey! I actually find these useful. I just realized my new story is High Fantasy, and I intend to add a couple twists, and you've really got me expecting a ton of flamers. Ah, well. Your style for these guides is easy to concentrate on (I have concentration issues). I completely agree with the part about authors adding bits of themselves to all their characters. I certainly do that.

I'M WEIRD LIKE YOU. I LIKE SEEING BAD GUYS WIN AND GOOD GUYS LOSE.

I'm really glad you mentioned the whole thing about there isn't a single original plot out there. Twists, yes. So I agree that people should stop complaining. And you know what? THANK YOU for talking about all the slash that's contaminating this site! You did a very good job explaining it.

You do a good job of getting your point across. Readers annoy me a lot of the time, too. No matter what you do, they'll always find something to complain about. The section about Anti-Sues helped me a lot, so thanks.

Hm. I love villains, too, but I have to admit this didn't really help me. I just couldn't figure out half the time what message you were trying to get across. But it was interesting; I hope to understand it better when I reread this all.

I like this. You know, I've been realizing that too: some authors do try too hard to make their characters not Mary Sues. I honestly don't see what's so bad about them if you write them right. I used to go out of my way to not write Mary Sues, but then I just stopped caring what people labeled them; I couldn't care about my characters if I was trying so hard to make them not Mary Sue, you know?

You do a good job explaining everything in such short sections. I was able to understand it all, and I plan to use this when I'm writing my future stories. Thanks a ton.

I hope you don't mind if I make a guide.

I will probably never use this information, but thanks anyway.

I don't see what makes Artemis Fowl an Anti-Sue in the seventh book. Could you explain? Thank you for the writing advice, though.