Some classic advice for writers from Anton Chekhov: "Don't tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass." This is part of a complete episode.
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After you do that, the rest is easy- just some worthwhile payoffs in the end, some teachables that last beyond the techniques.
As analogy of how some popular novels can be wanting that way, most alien movies end up as tremendous disappointments-- they always start out with captivating mysteries, the sun and planets doing odd things, animals going wild, and then inevitably the aliens show up in person, red eyes and hairy claws and such. All the wondrous buildups are for nothing but a tremendous anticlimax.