Make a pledge to yourself to do the following:
- Commit yourself to creating strong conflicts in every line of every scene.
- Decide you will have fresh, snappy dialogue and not a single line of conversation.
- Decide to write quickly when drafting. Fast is golden.
- Give yourself production quotas of at least a thousand words every day, even if you have a tough day job. (3k or 4k is even better)
- Commit yourself to this: You will not have any major characters that are bland and colorless. They will all be dramatic types, theatrical, driven, larger than life, clever.
- Create a step sheet for the whole novel. You might start your first draft if you know your opening and have an idea for the climax.
- Trick the expectations of the reader and create nice surprises from time to time.
- Have your characters in terrible trouble right from the beginning, and never let them get free of terrible trouble until the climax.
- Have powerful story questions operating at all times.
- End each scene of section of dramatic narrative with a bridge, a story question to carry the reader to the next one.
- Always keep brainstorming and think about what's happening off scene. Make charts for the major characters that tell you what they're doing when they're not on scene.
- Try to be fresh. Don't use the same old cliches. Be sure your prose is colorful and sensuous.
- Keep the clock ticking and the excitement mounting right to the climactic moment.