- Too many skateboard novels have been set at Burnside Skatepark. Choose a different venue.
- Make sure your characters wear pads and protection at all times, except for the bad guys (this shows that they are bad).
- Michiko Kakutani once admitted at an X-Games panel discussion that she would give a glowing review to any book where the main character does a 720 Christ Air on page 720. Do this.
- Grip it (your writing utensil) and rip it (all subsequent steps of the writing process).
- A cool place for a fight scene would be on a moving train where one of the train cars is a half pipe.
- DBAFS: Don’t Be Afraid to Shred
- A cool idea for a character would be a jaded old detective who looks like me and skateboards everywhere he goes.
- The detective could work for the Major Skateboard Crimes Unit and his “deck” (police slang for a skateboard) would have a siren and flashing lights.
- The detective could be named Anthony Hawkins.
- Don’t forget about National Skateboard Novel Dictation Month (NaSkNoDiMo).
Photo credits: “Bob tony hawk” by Tinou Bao, CC-BY-2.0 license; public domain beach photo by Martin Péchy.