Hello, writers. Tonight, as we have done before, I want to ask you what your favorite rules for writing are-- the rules you don't leave home without. Also, what are your least favorite rules, the ones you think are utter tripe?
In the past when we've discussed rules, someone generally points out that there are no rules for writing, or at least none that anyone is bound to follow. And they're right, of course. They approach writing the way I approach dancing. But if I were ever going to dance in public, instead of inside my house with the curtains drawn, then I would probably develop an interest in learning a few rules.
Oh and rules were made to be broken, of course. But rules that have to do with considering the reader probably shouldn't be.
Here are the rules I and my manuscript don't leave home without:
* Crank it up
* Check for tension on every page (h/t Donald Maass's books)
* Engage at least three senses in every scene (h/t teh guru)
* If there's a word or sentence I can cut, that sucker is outta there.
* Don't waste time describing stuff, including characters
* Remove as many adverbs and adjectives as you can
*
Give The Reader A Break
(This includes things like not giving characters names no one can remember, not inventing a language and then writing dialogue in it, and not calling a wheel a "bloorkek". And just generally not being so subtle that your reader has to work at understanding you, because she's probably got better stuff to do.)
A subset of giving the reader a break is:
* Always make sure the reader knows what is happening, and usually why.
Moving on...
* Lose the backstory
* Don't use dialogue for exposition
* A page of dialogue should have a whole lot of white space.
* Look through for phrases you overuse.
I've just been over at PageTOFame, directed there by the Intern's lovely blog, and have read three different first pages, which is how many you can read without signing up. And since they all had the same problem, I'm gonna guess it's a common one. All three of these writers had mastered the mechanics of English and could construct good sentences, and they all had good story ideas. But none of them understood the importance of hooking the reader on page one. They all got bogged down in description and scene setting-- stuff that doesn't belong there. So, a new rule:
* If your first page contains the words "golden haired," you're in trouble.
Oh, and my least favorite rules-- mm, any rules that promote prescriptive grammatical "facts" which are actually based not on English but on classical Latin, exempli gratia:
* You can't split an infinitive
* You can't end a sentence with a
particle preposition.
(I also abominate the "rule" that questions should begin "May" instead of "Can," but that scarcely comes up in writing.)
How about you? Favorite rules? Least favorite?
Write On! will be a regular Thursday feature (8 pm ET) until it isn't. Be sure to check out other great lit'ry diaries like:
sarahnity's books by kossacks on Tuesdays
plf515's What Are You Reading? on Wednesday mornings.
cfk's bookflurries on Wednesday nights.
Your happy writing links for the week:
The Rejectionist compares queries to sleazy craigslist personals.
On whether or not you should hire an editor, and on writing crime fiction.
Write a rhyming query, win a $100 amazon-or-other-bookstore gift card. Deadline 4/5/10. (Read the entries and note that while everyone knows how to rhyme, not everyone knows how to meter.)
(NB-- having writ your rhyming query, it wd probably not be a good idea to use it as an actual query. You're welcome.)
How to pitch.
What a lead title is.
Are some publishers easier to sell to than others? Yes.
I see I'm not the only one who doesn't yearn for the days when writers were writers.
Never, ever sign anything with any agent or publisher whom you haven't checked out at Writer Beware or Preditors and Editors.