There are no universal rules in writing. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t rules. It’s just that you have to figure out the rules that work for you. These are my rules. They work for me. That doesn’t mean they’ll work for you. They are neither right nor wrong, because, as I said, there are no rules. But, regardless, I offer them here for your consideration. Because, hey, maybe they will help you. So steal what you like and ignore the rest.

Nobody reads my zero draft. Literally nobody.

Nobody reads a partial draft, unless I’m asking them if the idea works and I’m genuinely considering tossing the whole thing. Or if they’re someone who helps me with a specific aspect — an expert on the specific thing I’m asking them to read.

You can always tell when you’re done revising. Because it’s the day of your deadline.

When you are writing a scene and you know it’s not working but you also know it has to be there, just get it done as fast and crappy as you can. Because you’re going to redo it in revision anyway, so there’s no reason to waste time. Get something on the page and get to the next scene.

Be open to cutting anything if it doesn’t work.

Be ready to rewrite a lot of shit to make the thing you don’t want to cut work.

Get into the scene later.

Get out of the scene earlier.

When in doubt about whether something is going to be harmful to a specific group of people, just take it out and write it a different way. No sentence is so important that you can’t eliminate it.

Go ahead and write characters getting from one scene to another in draft if it helps you, but cut it in revision. Nobody want’s to read travel scenes unless there’s something important happening during the travel.

Outlines are nice. I like how they stay really silent as I ignore them.

Use your junk words all you want in draft. You’re going to do a search and eliminate later anyway, so don’t even think about it. Mine are just and so.

Write the plot when you’re drafting. Don’t worry if there’s not enough scenery. You can add scenery later. Because if the plot changes, the scene is getting rewritten anyway, and then the scenery is gone. (This also works in the opposite way for some people, but I really don’t understand those people.)

Character first. Always.

Take the time to write the good line and get it right. It’ll still be there when a lot of the book is gone.

Bad words are better than no words. At least for today.

Don’t write characters that have names that end in s.

Find time to let your mind be quiet and just think.

If in doubt when drafting, write more character thought, not less. You can cut it later if it’s too much.

If you have a good idea for a part of the book you’re not working on. Write. It. Down. (Seriously, if anything is universal on this list, it’s probably this.)

Backup your files. (or this.)

Your book isn’t as bad as you think. Alternately, it’s probably not as good as you think. Depending on how you’re thinking today. Your brain does silly things.

Every time you add a character, put their name, a short description, and the page number into your notes document. Because you’re going to be looking for them later, fifteen scenes from now, when they appear again.

There are multiple ways to fix pace. Sometimes you have to cut words. Sometimes you can add words because they add tension and make things feel faster.

The middle is more important than people give it credit for. I need to know the middle before I start writing.

Don’t overdo it. Take weekends off. When you get to your wordcount for the day, consider stopping. Sure, you could get more words in, but it’s not worth it if you burn out.

Tags: Rules of writing, Writing craft