This is an expanded version of my latest "Advice-A-Day" post on my Tumblr.
A story is never just "stuff happening" or "about people." Rather, it is both. This is a strange phenomenon I keep seeing with new writers as a whole. I keep seeing two things...The writers who focus entirely on characters, but no plot. They develop detailed names with historically accurate and appropriate etymologies, they come up with amazingly detailed and well-designed costumes, they'll make a sprawling backstory that could stand as its own story, and on rare occasions, they'll even give these characters a personality and set of compelling behaviors. There's just