Dr. Curtis thinks it would be a good Spring Break idea for you aspiring writers to read this article published in The Guardian a couple of weeks ago with writing tips from this Fall's Humanities Symposium keynote speaker Margaret Atwood and many others: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one
(Dr. Curtis especially likes Elmore Leonard's contention that "[t]o use an adverb [to modify the word 'said'] (or almost any way) is a mortal sin.")
Enjoy!