This is intended for those who need help and for those who would like to give help.

You can...
-Share your knowledge on story basics/ have-to-haves.
-Post small (did I say small?) exerpts from a current or past projects.
-Provide links to helpful links on story writing.
-Be nice and helpful (contructive critisim is helpful)

You can't...
-Be rude and mean (there is a fine line between helpful contructive critisim and critisim)
-Flame.

I find this website to be very useful: http://hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/

SSChan, That is a very good site.
I was working on my characters of my story since I hit Writer's Block (or no interest in writing) and I tried to pull out everything I could possibly know about my characters.
*Writes in notebook*

Besides the very basic, reading, I find that looking on a website your favorite author has.
For me, Nicholas Sparks is my favorite author and a good author to base your fiction-y love stories off of.
For those who want -some- violence or death in their book John Grisham is a good author.

I wouldn't ever say that I base my written work on literature written by others- am I inspired by other authors? Absolutely. But attempting to replicate what they have written is plagiarism no matter what label you attempt to put on it.

I use Seventh Sanctum all the time when I'm low on inspiration and need to generate something to get the creative juices flowing. I also find that atmospheric music (Sarah McLachlan, Ben Harper, Iron & Wine, etc) helps push me to the emotive point that I need to be at to successfully express the characters' emotions. I could never have written Echoes without the help of Adele's "Hometown Glory."

To me, the most important element of a novel is its tone. A writer's tone is his/her unique voice, his/her personal stamp on a story that anyone else could write. And believe you me, tone is not something easy to establish- I've been working on mine for years and, though I do think that I've found my own, it takes a lot of practice and a lot of failed attempts to get to that point. If you don't have a unique tone, you have simply a raw, generic manuscript.

Good point. Plagiarism is a horrible thing and should never be done.

Reading Echoes reminded me, descriptions are key.
Even though in school they annoy the living hell out of you with forcing you to be more descriptive with every little thing you write.
Descriptions keep a visual, and visuals are proof of a good story.

Edit:
Writer's Quiz (copied from the site SSchan gave)

Question 1:
You've turned off the t.v., the stereo, and every other possible entertainment device, you have removed all books, and you are sitting in a dimly-lit room doing absolutely nothing. So. . . how long can you sit without going crazy?

A. 5 seconds. I get cold sweats just thinking about power outages.

B. 15 minutes -- but only if I have a bag of potato chips.

C. 1 hour -- I can always replay my last argument and come up with wittier things I could have said.

D. Man! I lost track of the time. I started watching people in my imagination doing interesting things, and the next thing I knew, it was nighttime and I'd missed supper.

Question 2:
You're writing and the phone rings. You:

A. Answer it.

B. Finish your sentence, then answer it.

C. Let the answering machine get it.

D. Have no phone access in the room where you work.

Question 3:
The person calling is one of your dearest friends, who wants to get together for brunch and a good long chat about his/her ex. Unfortunately, this juicy brunch will take place during your peak writing time. You:

A. Decide to go. You haven't heard the latest dirt on the evil ex in ages.

B. Reschedule for a later hour.

C. Reschedule for a non-writing day.

D. Pass.

Question 4:
You're out at the restaurant with your friend when you have a fantastic idea for a novel. You:

A. Have to hope you'll remember it -- you have nothing to write with and nothing to write on.

B. Will manage. You always have a pen, and there are napkins in restaurants.

C. Carry a special notebook, an organizer, or even a laptop with you everywhere -- you're completely prepared.

D. Aren't at the restaurant; that would cut unacceptably into your 14-hour writing workday.


Question 5:
When you see yourself as a successful writer, what is the image that is clearest in your mind:

A. The rounds of publishers' parties, autographings, and talk shows where you are lionized for your work of immortal literary genius?

B. Your name on the spines of a shelf full of beautiful books?

C. A vision of sending off a completed manuscript to a waiting editor or agent?

D. Your butt in your chair, your fingers on your keyboard, and your eyes on your monitor (or whatever tools you use to produce your stories or novels.)

Question 6:
You anticipate being able to quit your day job to write full time:

A. immediately -- you have a great idea for a book you know will be a bestseller;

B. as soon as the first book sells;

C. when you have three or four on the shelf;

D. when you're making as much from writing as you make at your day job . . . and have for a couple of years.


Question 7:
Do you have. . .

A. an idea for the Great American Novel -- a certain best-seller;

B. a few ideas for different stories;

C. background and development for a number of related books, a timeline, and a whole handful of novel ideas;

D. half a dozen fully developed worlds, including maps, costume worksheets, fully developed languages, cultures, flora, fauna, religions, sciences, and much more, plus enough story ideas to get you through this lifetime, and the next one.
Question 8:
You figure the biggest benefit of becoming a writer is:

A. Money & fame;

B. Flexible hours;

C. Creative control and being your own boss;

D. The writing.

Question 9:
You read:

A. The occasional newspaper, magazines, and remember having read books . . . but not recently;

B. You read in your free time if you don't have something better to do;

C. You invented the term multi-tasking because reading IS your "something better to do -- you usually have a book in hand no matter what else you're doing at the time;

D. Your house doesn't need insulation; the triple-stacked shelves of all your books will serve quite nicely, thank you.

Question 1O:
Where is the weirdest place you have ever written?

A. Your desk . . . _maybe_, in a crunch, at the kitchen table;

B. In bed. (An extra 1O points for this one if you were on your honeymoon at the time);

C. On the toilet;

D. Don't ask.

-------------
A=1
B=3
C=6
D=10

The higher the number, the better chance you'd be a writer.

Mainly, for me is to write down a long list of examples of each element of a story (i.e, like a long list of the type of setting, the character's personality, the plot elements, conflict, etc) and randomly pick a few to fabricate a story. Sometimes great literary pieces come out of pure imagination, I still would say.

I focus mainly on fantasy writing, and when I get a bit stuck for ideas about characters or setting, I look here.

It's a mammoth list of questions to ask yourself when world-building, but some of it can apply to other things. It's particularly useful for me because I'm revamping some of my old fantasy maps. ^_^

For character naming, you can check out the site allthebabynames.com
It lists a wide database of names plus their meanings and origins. Seems like it's not only a great resource for parents but for writers as well.

I have always a notepad in my pocket. Thats a quick way to write down the ideas, even if you are at dinner with friends.
To prepare myself, I spend much time with investigation. When I'm writing' a police story, I'm talking to some police men to find out details about their everyday working. Sometimes I make fotos and when I'm starting writing, my office looks like a crime scene.
First, I write down all characters in the chronological order they appear. With all characteristics like age, haircolor etc. I create i kind of mindmap for the storyline.

I started writing a werewolve story a few weeks ago. First chapter is finished.