1. Be fresh and innovative. 2. Capture your readers' attention on the first page. 3. Hold your readers' interest throughout the entire novel with a compelling and believable plot, clearly defined Goals, Motivation and Conflict, and a Hero and Heroine the reader can identify with, love, and root for. 4. Emotion, emotion, emotion! And when you think you've added enough, add more! 5. Pull in all the 5 senses. It's not enough to touch, just for the sake of touching, it needs to mean something. An aroma is an aroma, but what feelings and emotions does said aroma invoke? Be purposeful in your layering in of details. 6. Chose words with verve. Be vivid, clear and descriptive without relying on the mundane. 7. Be teachable. 8. Voice is the flow of the words, sentences and paragraphs. Voice is how we put words together. Voice is how we bring the story to life. 9. Show the action. Don't tell it. The reader will become much more involved if you draw them into the action, make it real for them. Simply recounting events won't draw in the reader. 10. Be open to constructive criticism.