Don't Be Boring

My lovely grandmother reads more than any person I’ve ever met. She goes to the bookstore several times a week, and the people who work there often set aside all the new arrivals for her to buy when she comes in.
She always says that the best present in the world is a book she hasn’t read.
(See where I get my love of reading from? It’s genetic.)
I love to ask her about the books she’s read so she can filter out the fantastic books from the “meh” books for me, but lately she’s had one major complaint: She’s reading the same plotline over and over again, with nothing fresh or new added to it.
Or plots where nothing is happening except for characters talking and thinking all the time.
Or the stakes are too low, and she just doesn’t care.
Writing advice from an avid reader: Don’t be boring.
Instead:Make things happenHave real conflictDon’t always have your characters do the safe thingWatch out for clichésTurn a trope on its headBe funnyBe realBe interestingDon’t play it safeDon’t write the first thing that pops into your headRaise the stakes
Make it matter.