ten rules for writing fiction

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if you like this kind of stuff: the guardian asked a bunch of writers for their own top ten rules. a few i particularly liked:

Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. -elmore leonard


Keep your exclamation points ­under control. -elmore leonard


Good ideas are often murdered by better ones. -roddy doyle


Style is the art of getting yourself out of the way, not putting yourself in it. -david hare


Find an author you admire and copy their plots and characters in order to tell your own story, just as people learn to draw and paint by copying the masters. -michael moorcock


Carrot and stick – have protagonists pursued (by an obsession or a villain) and pursuing (idea, object, person, mystery). -michael moorcock


It is the gestation time which counts. -michael morpurgo


Think big and stay particular. -andrew motion


Don't try to anticipate an "ideal reader" – there may be one, but he/she is reading someone else. -joyce carol oates


Get lucky. Stay lucky. -ian rankin


The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on the wall in front of my desk saying "Faire et se taire" (Flaubert), which I translate for myself as "Shut up and get on with it." -helen simpson


complete article: part one / part two

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Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2010 at 11:43 AM

    "Faire et se taire".

    amen to that!

    - lucy

    ReplyDelete
  2. djFebruary 24, 2010 at 1:02 PM

    wise words...

    "Keep your exclamation points ­under control." -elmore leonard

    :) elmore leonard is the man!

    ReplyDelete
  3. macoyFebruary 24, 2010 at 5:13 PM

    @dj, yess!!!!

    @lucy, ayan may bago ka nang slogan para sa opis. french pa!

    ReplyDelete

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