Writing Rules

Here's a lovely little collection of writing rules by the likes of Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, George Orwell and others.

As anyone who's read any of my books would likely agree, I tend to break many of these rules on a regular basis. Oh well, I guess that just means I've still got lots to learn and am not quite ready for the grave yet.

William Safire's list is funny for the way he breaks each rule as he states it, but my favourite rule is probably Neil Gaiman's # 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."

That's a good one that I've often found to be true. (Editor Julie gets Honourable Exclusion from that comment, though, as her suggested fixes are almost always right on the money.)