I've never written a story before, but if I do, this will be very helpful!

I have never seen this before but I can recognize several things I have done myself and things that I have posted or thought to post as advice for other authors. One thing I particularly like is looking at something you dislike and breaking it down to see what makes it fail so you know better how to succeed. Since sausage tins and general sections are mostly inhabited by stupid discussions at the moment I may as well go over each of the rules:

1. "Admire characters for attempting more than what their successes have been."

   People have goals. Characters have goals. Say a character wants to climb a hill. When they get to the top they see a mountain in the distance easily quadruple the size of the hill they are currently standing on. First of all, why would they be reaching for those goals? Do they have reason? This rule is okay but it owes a little explanation for why they go beyond their initial plan.

2. "Keep in mind what's interesting to you as an audience, not what's fun to do as a writer. They can be very different."

   A while ago I noticed a trend in fictions around here. Generic heroes who do generic heroic stuff and fight a generic villain and generic evil whatevers. Well solids. I personally apply this rule by putting myself in the pants of the reader. Why would I care about the hero? Do I see anything interesting in them? Could their personality exist in reality or is it a cheesy action flick? What if the character is not only human but has human problems? Anyone can write about ten headed dragons with laser snot, but what about someone struggling with a mental disorder? What kind of internal conflicts go on in their head? Are they unable to speak so others can understand but in their own mind they think people are just ignoring them? Have original content. Interesting ideas contribute to interesting writing.

3. "Trying for theme is important, however you won't see what the story is about until you're at the end of that story. Got it? Now rewrite."

   The conclusion in fiction is almost always the point where everything is revealed: character arcs, themes, and your ability to create the world the fiction exists in and what happens to it. Creating the world is easy (relatively speaking), but what do you do with it? Does it explode at the end because of something the characters did? Does life continue? Has a land mass been sent to another planet because teleportation?

4. "Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day, ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally, ___."

   This is a generic skeleton for fiction. It starts with setting the scenery and defining what is normal, when suddenly something happens and events occur. At the end of the series of events is an end result of some sort. Okay. Not bad, but not particularly good.

5. "Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You'll feel like you're losing valuable stuff but it sets you free."

   This is something I can definitely identify with. When I finish my own fiction I plan to go over the specifics, but there are times before words start popping up outside of your noggin that you have some characters that are simply uninteresting. Background characters. Similar characters where only one or two are necessary or definable as an individual. Remember, when you have a character, make them a character. If they read as a cardboard cutout chances are their existence is unnecessary. If they contribute to the world, if they do something that a real person could do, then they become alive in the world you created.

6. "What is your character good at or comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at him. Challenge him. How does he deal with it?"

   This goes back to four with the generic but functional skeleton. Say you have a character named Stinky. Stinky hates taking baths, showers, and using deodorant. Suddenly Soapy pours a bucket of water on Stinky. Stinky beats Soapy to death then devours the body. Okay. No, not okay, that is disgusting and cruel, but you get the idea. Whatever the opposite of a character is good at and/or comfortable with still has to make sense in the world everything exists in or it looks like a character foil where the antagonist only exists to define the protagonist and is not a definable entity in its own. Think of the ten headed dragon from earlier.

7. "Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard. Get yours working up front."

   This goes back to three with endings. Conclusions are important for fiction especially when it comes to sequels. If the world ends and everyone died, what do readers get from your work? Why did everyone die? If you make a sequel, what would it be about when everyone is already dead? Would it be about their exploded corpses floating around in space? Endings are often the defining feature in writing that says what the fiction can be classified as. It usually depends on the events throughout the story and how much filler content happens, like random detours that contribute nothing to the story, but if the story is about just rolling around having cute little adventures then the ending becomes more open ended. If the story has a lot of character building as the meat which builds up how important everything is then the audience is going to have high expectations.

8. "Finish your story. Let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time."

   People are afraid of failure. People are afraid of being judged for their flaws. Whether you choose to face your fears is up to you individually, but if you choose to then how would you do it? Would you post it and see what people say? Would you write it anyway but hold onto it before putting it up publicly to edit it at some point? Different people have different preferences, but I can tell you what I would rather do: write every ending you can think of for your fiction once you reach that point and pick the ones you like. From those few, see where you can combine them while still keeping consistent with the world it exists in and how satisfying it would be for readers. I know in my own fiction I had over a dozen endings planned before chapter nine was up but it is currently narrowed down to three. As the story progresses things happen. Those things may influence the conclusion.

9. "When you're stuck, make a list of what wouldn't happen next. More often than not, the material that gets you unstuck appears."

   This reminds me of how Nostalgia Critic came back recently after supposedly retiring the hat and tie. A ridiculously bad movie which brought the fire back to his furnace. One thing that gets people going who make creative content is seeing something completely opposite of what they are trying to construct.

10. "Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you. Recognize it before you use it."

    Bad ideas may inspire your own to become better, but good ideas give you a goal to aspire to. Be careful when following this rule. Do not cut and paste. Inspiration is fine, but taking the exact context and changing a few names is not going to fly.

11. "Why must you tell this story in particular? What's the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That's the heart of it."

    This goes back to three, seven, and nine. Why does the reader care? Have they become accustomed to the characters being real people and when things happen to them they share their pain? What message are you trying to convey, if any? Are you commenting on society? Are you delivering a moral? Be careful with that last one, it will either make or break anything.

12. "Discount the first thing that comes to mind. And the second, third, fourth, fifth- get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself."

    This one assumes you, the author, first sat down and wanted to write something everyone has already seen. Before you get to the metaphorical typewriter you should brainstorm what you want to write about. What kind of characters may appear. What events may happen. None of them absolutely have to happen, but go in with ideas of what you are going to do.

13. "Give your characters opinions. A character being passive or malleable is easy for you as a writer, but it's poison to your audience."

    This goes back to basically everything. No one wants to read about a cardboard cutout. No one. Well, there are some people stupid enough to enjoy anything, but that applies more so to film than writing since they would have to know how to read for the latter. With movies all they have to do is sit and stare while drool oozes from their nostrils and snot bubbles in their ears.

14. "What's the essence of your story? What's the most economical way of telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there."

    This goes back to, again, basically everything. When people read something they want to walk away knowing they got something out of it. People can tell if you botched it. People can tell if you barely tried. People can also tell if you knew what you were doing from the very beginning and if it changed as the story progressed.

15. "If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations."

    Again, characters being three dimensional is very important. One thing people remember the most from fiction is a good character, or even better, good characters. People are people. Characters should be created to be people. People are curious about other people. People are curious about characters.

16. "What are the stakes? Give us a reason to root for the character. What happens if he doesn't succeed? Stack the odds against him."

    This goes back to one a bit. Why do readers care about what the character(s) is/are doing? Are the reasons interesting? Are other characters involved? What the liquids is going on? What stops characters from succeeding? Does it make sense in the world it exists in?

17. "No work is ever wasted. And if it's not working, let go and move on- if it's useful, it'll show up again."

    This goes back to deciding on an ending but applies more broadly and includes what you got out of brainstorming before starting. Again, for my own fiction, there are a lot of things I cut to make it shorter. That says a few things considering how long it is after cutting stuff. However, many of those things cut I plan to use for the sequel but modified to make sense in the different context than they were originally imagined for. This rule only applies if you have more ideas than you know what to do with.

18. "You have to know yourself, and know the difference between doing your best and being fussy. Story is testing, not refining."

    I think this has something to do with two and three dimensional characters, general content, and that fear of failure from not too long ago. Your writing may not be perfect but be sure to stay consistent with the ideas behind it. Avoid cardboard cutouts.

19. "Coincidences that get characters into trouble are great. Coincidences that get them out of it is cheating."

    Avoid cardboard cutouts and character foils. Everything exists for a reason. Unexpected things happen, but they should not be inexplicably convenient for the sake of avoiding having the characters conquer conflict.

20. "Exercise. Take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How would you rearrange them into what you do like?"

    This goes back to nine and ten. Being able to recognize building blocks is a great skill. Being able to recognize what makes building blocks good or bad is also a great skill. Building a tower with these blocks without having it topple over and bonk you on the noggin is another skill.

21. "Identify with your situation/characters. Don't write 'cool'. What would make you act that way?"

    Characters again. Make them realistic in the world they exist in. No cardboard cutouts or character foils allowed. Features of a character need reasons to exist in them. Think nature versus nurture and your stance on it. With nature, why does the character have a certain trait? Did they inherit it? Nurture is easier for me to explain because it makes more sense and applies significantly more personally. As people live and exist they have experiences. These experiences may affect their development, what they think, and what they will remember in the future. People have memories. People are influenceable.

22. "Putting it on paper only allows you to start fixing it. If a perfect idea stays in your head, you'll never share it with anyone."

    This is something I should be doing but fail to do so: proofreading and editing before publicizing. I always brainstorm a while before starting to write parts (chapters) but rarely do I go back and reread after writing about five pages in one sitting. My brain and eyeballs have melted out of my face and formed a puddle on the floor which is making my feet soggy. Fortunately there are people reading who are likely to catch mistakes. The second part of this rule goes back to the fear of failure. If you have an idea you like you could write a rough draft of it and see how it plays out. If it turns out bad, take it out. If it turns out better than what you were going to or already have written, use it.

For those still awake after reading all that, have something energetic.

Wow, this is some pretty solid building blocks for writing. I've found myself already doing some of The Rules mentioned, but I'm also finding some of the others new and useful :).

And yeah, I agree with the apps thing (unless it's a roleplay). Because for me, it just doesn't feel right to write about a character that someone else conjured. Now, I have no problems offering characters to those who ask for it, but you wouldn't catch me asking other people for characters anytime soon XD.

Don't you mean Welcome Back?

/nudges to Seatus that Azure-Orbit made the original Clockworks Renegades that you should totally check out because it's a great read and also stop throwing Chromalisks except towards my mouth