Neil Gaiman's Eight Rules of Writing

[bjarvis]

Shamelessly lifted from Brain Pickings and reminded of jorhett's recent postings on writing...

1. Write
   
2. Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
   
3. Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
   
4. Put it aside. Read it pretending you've never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
   
5. Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
   
6. Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
   
7. Laugh at your own jokes.
   
8. The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it's definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it ­honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
   

Comments

Excellent

[bootedintexas.livejournal.com]

if I ever needed another reason to believe Neil Gaiman rocks.

thanks Brian.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

“I was born a poor black child…”

re: #7

[cuyahogarvr.livejournal.com]

EVEN the baby seal jokes?

[snousle.livejournal.com]

Can't say I've ever needed encouragement to write. Many writers also need the discipline to stop writing, which is another good habit.

The big thing for me is letting go of that which is already written. If it just doesn't work, that's what the "delete" key is for. Sometimes I get stuck on a clever idea or turn of phrase that does not, in fact, add value to the text, and the answer to that is sheer ruthlessness.

Sometimes this also entails eliminating ideas that seemed true when I wrote them, but which do not stand up under scrutiny; this is a deeper kind of letting go, realizing that my interpretation of something is simply wrong, and that I have to back up and say it again, only more honestly.

I also like Orwell's advice, something like "if you can delete it, delete it." Unnecessary words are unnecessary!

[madknits.livejournal.com]

Re: Rule #6: When I was a writing tutor working with students writing masters' theses, I used to tell them there were two kinds of theses: perfect ones and finished ones.

Re: #7

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Especially the baby seal jokes.