10 Rules for Writing Fiction

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10 Rules for Writing Fiction

Postby mondu_the_fat » Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:14 pm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/fe ... n-part-one

Interesting read. Unfortunately, some of the "rules" are seemingly and flat out contradictory ("stop writing for the day, even if you want to write more" vs "always finish writing" vs "its ok not to finish"; "read more" vs "stop reading fiction", "don't read reviews" vs "listen to critics") and some I completely disagree with (E. Leonard's #3, "never read/write reviews", "easily available information makes research cheap"*. ).

*easily available information makes it obvious if you didn't do the research.
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Re: 10 Rules for Writing Fiction

Postby CRBWildcat » Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:34 pm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/fe ... n-part-one


To which I, a guy who's been heavily into fiction since he was 3 (and writing since he was 5), say the following:

Avoid prologues: they can be ­annoying, especially a prologue ­following an introduction that comes after a foreword.


Then don't write the introduction or the foreword: just do the prologue. It doesn't have to be lengthy or wordy, just something that is important to the story but wouldn't necessarily find a niche later on. The trick is to make it look like it belongs there.

Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.


Repetition gets tiring awful quick. Hit the thesaurus and use variety. How did a person say something? Was he calm? Angry? Flamboyant? Was his voice raised? Almost inaudible? Too fast to discern? Something else that I missed?

I'm detail-oriented. If I hear the word 'said' and only 'said', I start to assume that the person was calm. Do I like to assume stuff about stories? No. Do I like to enjoy stories? You betcha.

Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" ... he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin.


See the above.

5 Keep your exclamation points ­under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.


Too few for my tastes. E. Leonard has a point about not using too many of them, but then again you shouldn't use an extreme few, either. Try to find a healthy medium and use them if they absolutely fit what the characters are doing.

Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose". This rule doesn't require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use "suddenly" tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.


We must be reading different books, then... :?

Avoid detailed descriptions of characters, which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants", what do the "Ameri­can and the girl with him" look like? "She had taken off her hat and put it on the table." That's the only reference to a physical description in the story.


I can see that being the case if we already know what the characters look like, as with most fanfiction (I know of one story where the author fully described the characters when they initially appeared, then used the exact descriptions when they first showed up in the sequel), but fleshing out a characters description---not all at once, mind you, maybe slipping in a necessary detail here and there---makes it easier for the reader to imagine what is taking place. Being non-descriptive renders the imagination empty.

Don't go into great detail describing places and things, unless you're ­Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. You don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.


Half the time, the descriptions I write in my stories tend to be rather 'eh'. I'm always thankful when the author takes the time to show exactly what is going on, where it's taking place, and how.

When I don't write, I waste my time with reading. The good ones make me lose track of time. And what do those kinds of stories have that others lack? Details, details, details... to quote Fox News, "fair, balanced, and unafraid". Not too many, not too few, but just right. They don't leave me hanging, and if I close my eyes I can see what is taking place and where.
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Re: 10 Rules for Writing Fiction

Postby Ellen Kuhfeld » Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:16 pm

The more you know about your characters and their world, the better your story will be -- but only if you don't insist on telling the reader each and every bit of it. There should be a respectful gap between research and infodump.
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Re: 10 Rules for Writing Fiction

Postby Spokavriel » Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:39 am

Writing Fiction your own writing and imagination is all that is providing restrictions. Fanfiction you are borrowing already defined characters and settings to tell your own story about what someone else's creation would do. Much less free because there are clearly defined things the originator has done that you have to go along with or others will not accept your fanfiction as possible for the characters you are borrowing.
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