I thought I'd open up this thread, after starting to finally read Make It Count. The first thing that struck me was a sense of family, of Celeste's life, just by how she talked about nephews and family life.
So I thought that in the nature of the self-help threads for blogs, I'd ask you all to pipe up what you've learned from other blogs
I learned from Make It Count... that spending a few posts at the beginning of your story on family, helps gain a sense of personality that will last for the entire blog.
I learned from Dreams In Darkness... that not showing your antagonist until a real climactic moment is a better scare than anything else.
I learned from Seeking Truth... that a protagonist is capable of having personal issues, and make mistakes in his battle with the unknown. Those mistakes can shatter perceptions.
I learned from A hint of serendipity...that you can write an immersive story that lives in the moment, in the interactions of others, but it makes a poor read.
I learned from White Elephants...that sometimes a retcon taking place as a Creator Breakdown can influence the entire mythos, and spawn interesting new characters.