Here’s a guest post from bestseller Brenda Novak, who reveals 10 key basics to writing a great novel.

1. Start your story in the right place—when something exciting happens, when something unusual comes to pass, when a worthy challenge has been presented to your protagonist.

Bro-Tip: Describing Skin Color.

Do not compare skin color to food because it’s fucking insulting.
Do not say someone looks “exotic” because it, too, is insulting.
If you are going to describe the skin color of a non-white person, fucking describe the white person’s skin color too. The fact that you feel the need to state a non-white character’s race is a reminder that people assume characters are white until stated otherwise — an undeniable and unpleasant fact of society. If you’re going to do it for one, do it for the other. (If you’re using a face claim, you don’t fucking need to describe skin color, please stop)
Your characterization should not begin and end with skin color in your writing, even for NPCs.
Do some research about race before you commit to a skin color for your character, if you choose to describe it at all — it can only help.