Ten rules for writing fiction (The Guardian)

Inspired by Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing, The Guardian (20th Feb 2010) recently asked authors for their personal dos and don'ts regarding fiction writing. Some of them are very useful, and some of them are hilarious.

I especially like the following 'rules' from the various authors in part one of this article:

Elmore Leonard:

"Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But "said" is far less intrusive than "grumbled", "gasped", "cautioned", "lied". I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated" and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary."

Geoff Dyer:

"Don't be one of those writers who sentence themselves to a lifetime of sucking up to Nabokov."

Anne Enright:

"Only bad writers think that their work is really good."

Jonathan Franzen:

"Never use the word "then" as a ­conjunction – we have "and" for this purpose. Substituting "then" is the lazy or tone-deaf writer's non-solution to the problem of too many "ands" on the page."

Esther Freud:

"A story needs rhythm. Read it aloud to yourself. If it doesn't spin a bit of magic, it's missing something."

Neil Gaiman:

"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."

David Hare:

"The two most depressing words in the English language are "literary fiction".

PD James:

"Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more ­effective your writing. We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world. Respect it."

And - after you've read the article - the most useful 'rule' of all to come back to? I think this one by AL Kennedy:

"Have humility. Older/more ­experienced/more convincing writers may offer rules and varieties of advice. ­Consider what they say. However, don't automatically give them charge of your brain, or anything else – they might be bitter, twisted, burned-out, manipulative, or just not very like you."

Ten rules for writing fiction - part one (The Guardian, Saturday 20th Feb 2010)