1.) Getting to familiarize yourself with the place the story takes place is the best choice here in my opinion, since this will help you understand the rest better! If you start by explaining the plot, you will definitely end up with a story you will have to drag along, whereas if you leave it obscure, it'll be much easier to expand on it. Leave little information about the plot, giving small hints here and there in your story and leave it up to the reader to think about it and try to connect everything. This way, they will start paying more attention to the happenings and little details, which I think is a good thing! However, this will need some serious polishing! Just one more thing here, I've literally never read something that introduced the characters at the beginning that actually ended up at least decent! If you start like that, it only shows it's going to be a bore! Just remember to leave hints and keep it a bit vague and obscure!
2.) I do, but only when they have been placed well and in a smart way! Too many cliffhangers is bad and no cliffhangers is bad, so I would say a good ratio would be one at about every 10-15 chapters. I don't know how long yours will be, but if it isn't too long, I'd say use just one, but place it well and in the most unanticipated point in order to peak the readers' interest on what will happen next! (eg: have a smart lead-up to a plot twist and put the cliffhanger just before that)
3.) As for this one, it depends mostly on the type of novel. If it's a comedic one, then funny stereotypes can actually not be a bad thing, even if there are too many of them! If it's a more serious kind, then keep it to a minimum, but you should still include a few, mostly for background characters (eg: drunk guy in a bar complaining about how bad everything is), semi-background ones (eg: boss at work that only appear a couple of times throughout the story) or for some of those people making a single appearance and then are gone! About the illnesses, I think it would be best if you don't overdo it. A good piece of advice is that if you include any of these people and they are close to the main character (friends, family, etc.), then one is acceptable, two is ok too, but from three and up it just starts making this useless, unless the main character himself is one too! For example, if it's a novel about junkies and the main character is one too, then adding a whole group of them is ok, but if it's not about that, then it'll fail to show their individuality and struggle!
4.) I like a story that progresses at a slightly slow rate (eg: "The Godfather" books) that have both kinds of sequences, with the action ones being a little more common than the character development ones! A good way to do this would be to start with the place they story will take place in, then introduce the characters with either a bang (action sequence) and then slow down a bit and do some character development or introduce them and develop them a little in a slow manner that kinda drags on and at the point you think the reader will start losing interest, place an action sequence in a smart way to show them that this story has a lot going on behind it! What you should always try to aim for is to keep the reader interest peaked! If you lose them for even a little, you may lose them for good!
5.) Sincerely, about this one, I have no preference. I just want them to be well thought out and worked on, not just copies of some stereotype! As long as the character is deep, then I will like them! However, I'd say to not make them too manly and cold or too feminine and frail! Sorry I can't help you any more here.
6.) I don't think it's too cliche, but rather too unimaginative! You should try to be original as much as possible, although it isn't actually bad to use already existing ideas and concepts, as long as you work on them and turn them into something your own! It's possible to use a cliche or overused idea and to end up with a masterpiece with simply a slight twist to it! My advice here is to experiment a bit and think about what will work best!
7.) Considering one of my favorite movies is "Lucky Number Slevin", of course I do (you should watch it and you'll see what I'm talking about)! However, like cliffhangers, I really hate badly thought out or misplaced ones! If you want to put a plot twist in your story, make absolutely sure there is nothing but a tiny little hint hidden very well in the story that points to what is going to happen! Plot twists are supposed to be completely unexpected and leave the reader in a "wtf just happened?" state! If your plot twist doesn't do that, it's not good enough! Also, there shouldn't be more than one in the entire novel (or series), no matter how long it is and it's best if placed about 1/20th before the end (trust me on this)!
8.) I don't mind as long as there aren't more than 3 points of view and they are well planned out! If you write them well, you can make it work, but if you are unsure, you should keep it to a single one, as it's incredibly difficult to not lose the reader at some point if there are too many and the novel is bad-written! Again here, experiment and see what your limitations are! It's ok if you can't do something overcomplicated, as long as you put lots of work to it to make it come out good!
9.) Flashbacks are the storytelling cliches like time traveling is for plot! It's a really poor and as I said earlier, the best way to tell the story is through hints in the dialogues and happenings around the characters or involving them! You should never try to explain too much and never too little, you should explain a moderate amount, in a spread out manner, while leaving plenty of obscurities so you can change things if you decide to or leave room for a sequel, but you should always leave room for the reader to try to imagine the rest, so they can mold the story a bit so they will identify themselves better with it!
10.) Of course! Considering I took the time to write all this, it's only natural I'm interested in reading your work!
I'm looking forward to seeing how your novel turns out! And before I post this, there's one more who can help you a lot! I know she's busy, but I hope she posts her advice and opinions too!
@PersonSP
