Pauline Rowson's Ten Rules for Writing

[Pauline Rowson]

I pinched this idea from recent articles in the Guardian where a number of writers are penning their ten rules for writing. I thought I'd add mine.

1 Always have a pencil and paper with you, in every handbag, shopping bag or pocket.

2. Travel by public transport, you see and meet some great characters for novels.

3. Earwig other people's conversations in cafes, bars, buses, trains. You can collect some wonderful ideas for stories and some fantastic anecdotes.

4. Watch people's body language, it adds colour to your characters.

5. Write for yourself first, it will help you to find your own distinctive voice, rather than trying to write to suit your publisher, agent, readers and ending up with something watered down and weak.

6. Don't read reviews, or if you do learn to take the rough with the smooth and then carry on writing for yourself and for enjoyment, not to please a reviewer.

7. Back up everything, regularly.

8. Have a spare computer, laptop or netbook and if one fails, and you've backed up, you can always continue writing.

9. If you get to the stage in your novel where you're bored with the story, then your reader will most certainly be bored too.

10. Writing is hard work. You don't get a pension plan, and you don't get a regular salary cheque. ­Nobody is forcing you to do this: you chose it, so don't moan, enjoy it and if you don't enjoy it, don't do it.

Needless to say I love it.

What are your ten rules?

[James Hayman]

Don't worry about rules. Just write.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Really, there's only one rule, and that is to avoid getting absorbed in lists of writing rules. There are established truths in writing. The rest are unreliable.

[John McFetridge]

Now a reader has offered some advice.

[Sunny Frazier]

1.Put the first word on paper. Any first word. It won't stay there, and it won't be your last. Just as a journey starts with the first step, writing starts with the first word.

2.Don't look back. Fill pages up with words. Don't ask yourself if they're the right words. Do that later. Just keep going forward.

3.Nothing is written that can't be rewritten. This is why computers come with a delete key.

4.Don't let family members read your work unless they have a novel under their belt. Find a critique group or people who have published. Those are the people worth listening to.

5.Don't talk your plot out. You will verbally write your story and be instantly satisfied. Soon you won't feel like you have to write it at all.

6.Don't announce to the world that you are working on a book. You might even want to keep your writing a secret. Friends will be afraid you'll fail. Enemies hope for failure.

7.Never worry about disappointing people. Never disappoint yourself.

8.Read up on writing, but don't spend all your time reading. Ditto for research. While fun and informative, it's not writing.

9.Don't start another novel. Commit to one project all the way to The End.

10.If you write 300 words a day by the end of a year you will have a 100,000 words, which is a hefty manuscript. That's all it takes. What are you waiting for?

[I. J. Parker]

The snarky ones are by definition wrong: Rude bastards/bitches who lack the background to judge a book. Never, but never let them walk all over you!

[B.R.Stateham]

Really don't need 10 rules. Five will do:

1. Believe in yourself

2. Experiment and find your own voice.

3. Write it the way you'd like to read it.

4. Expect a lot of 'No' before a qualified 'Yes.'

5. Develop a very, very thick skin. You'll need to insulate yourself from
rejections and snarky critics.

[Jack Getze]

Loomis has covered my other five. He is an enlightened man, except that if anybody needs to self-aggrandize once in a while, it's writers.

[Jon Loomis]

Jack--interesting. I always expect "yes." I'm outraged by every rejection. I think that's what keeps me going through those periods where I've got stuff submitted.

[John McFetridge]

I like Shakespeare's Rules O Writing myself.

[I. J. Parker]

Funny, especially the comments. I'm in the midst of a deadline, so won't take the time. Is it self-aggrandizing? Maybe it's just passing along hard-won experience.