ysabetwordsmith | Rules for Writing

Lots of people make rules about writing. Few of them are really useful, but they're often good for sparking discussion. Here is Mark Evanier on Heinlein's rules. I agree with Mark far more than Heinlein.

You must write.

True. If you write, you are a writer. If you only talk about writing, you are not.

Picasso's rule applies to writing as much as art: "If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,' then by all means paint! And that voice will be silenced."

You must finish what you write.

Here I agree more with Mark: you must finish a useful quantity of material. This is a challenge for me; I've gotten better at it over time; but I've also had things on the back burner for decades waiting for a missing piece.

You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.

That's a good way to ensure you never sell anything. I recommend that after writing something, you set it aside for a while. Later go back and reread it looking for plot holes, missing words, spelling mistakes, etc. If you don't at least proofread you're screwed, and few people are so good that they never need to rewrite something unclear or clunky. To avoid endless rewrites, sometimes it helps to set a number or pattern of things you do before submission.

However, there are a handful of markets that rely on quantity over quality such as pulp fiction, pr0n, and romance. In these fields Heinlein's advice may make more sense.

You must put the work on the market.

True if you wish to be a professional writer, irrelevant if that is not your goal. There are many other reasons why people write various types of things.

Of course, there's also another option now. You can self-publish far more effectively than used to be possible. You may or may not ask for money.

You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.

I would say, or until you determine that it's not suited to that market. You may decide it's not good enough. You may realize the editor(s) just isn't interested in the stories you have to tell. You might conclude that some other release method will be needed, especially if you're into fringe topics.

Another one that I settled on is giving up on a piece of writing or a market once the postage cost meets or exceeds the probable sale price. There's no point pouring money down a rathole, which is why I eventually quit submitting to Asimov's. The editor kept sending encouragement but never bought anything, and I'm not here to provide people with free reading on my dime when I'm trying to sell things.

>> "Come back when you can show me only work you're proud of." <<

Excellent line.

A few bits of other advice I have found worthwhile:

* "Thou shalt not bore thy reader." The only rule you must follow in order to succeed.

* "The first thing the hero tries, never works." A great way to remember the importance of problem-solving routines in plot construction, so it's not too simple.

* "The most important problem gets solved last. If they save the world and then get together, it's romance; if they get together and then save the world, it's science fiction." A useful distinction for any mixed-genre story where you are asked to specify the dominant genre.

And of course mine: "If you're not making any mistakes, you're not learning, you're coasting."

Current Mood: busy

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From:

pronker

Good post. I'm reminded of zines, which made next to no profit or broke even, with rising costs of postage. The question remains, "How much loss is acceptable?" Even dinky letterzines faded away. Also, Mark Evanier!!! I love his work.

Edited Date: 2024-01-30 09:36 pm (UTC)

From:

ysabetwordsmith

>> I'm reminded of zines, which made next to no profit or broke even, with rising costs of postage.<<

I think we lost a lot when those went away. There are online ones, but it's not the same. A lot of zines were local; they created and connected a community of fans within driving distance of each other.

>> The question remains, "How much loss is acceptable?" <<

That also ties into the problem of rising demands and effectively shrinking income over the last several decades. People are a lot poorer now than they used to be, and they don't always realize that.

>> Also, Mark Evanier!!! I love his work.<<

My partner is a regular reader and sometimes points me to articles.

From:

pronker

Well then, Groo on, Your Partner!

From:

goatgodschild

One I picked up was to never use "suddenly", unless what happened was truly instantaneous and unnoticed.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

I use it both for abrupt changes of trajectory or topic, and for things appearing unexpectedly.

From:

see_also_friend

Reminds me of this: https://notalwaysright.com/you-are-literally-wrong/35524/

(Also, put down your drinks before reading the story.)

From:

siberian_skys

You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.

Is it me or is that maybe the worst advice ever to give a writer?

From:

ysabetwordsmith

It could very well be. You have to get good at rewriting, revising, editing, whatever you want to call it in order to get really good at writing.

From:

siberian_skys

I can't even imagine someone would tell a writer not to edit and re-write.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Like Mark said, it was probably a badly phrased warning not to waste time with endless rewrites.

But as it stands: terrible advice.

From:

siberian_skys

And then there's that famous writer who I can't remember right now who says or said don't use adjectives. I never liked that advice either.

From:

see_also_friend

I am fairly sure you can't just /not/ use an entire class of words. At least not in English, though I think there was at least one conlang designed that way.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Sure you can. I've done it. That makes for bad writing, and it took several years to repair the damage, but it shut up the damn teacher.

As an editor, I require all my writers to use all 8 parts of English correctly. *chuckle* And I said that in a panel once, then got the whole audience singing, "Lolly, lolly, lolly, get your adverbs here!"

From:

see_also_friend

Fair enough. Spite is a great motivator to do the impossible (and sometimes less-than-advisable).

From:

ysabetwordsmith

I just did it with worldwalking and linguistics -- routed things through a language that didn't have modifiers. That stripped out the information, like routing through one that doesn't mark for gender. Knowing about the failure mode enables solving certain kinds of problems.

You should just see codebreakers tearing their hair out trying to crack that sort of thing. They just can't wrap their mind around the idea that certain information can just be gone.

From:

see_also_friend

That works.

>>You should just see codebreakers tearing their hair out trying to crack that sort of thing. They just can't wrap their mind around the idea that certain information can just be gone.<<

Er, trained codebreakers, or codebreaker-linguists? A codebreaker-linguist would know better, I'd think, but a mathematically-inclined coder, yeowch their poor brain.

I wonder if anyone's tried that trick with different modality languages?

Also, this reminds me of a conlanging idea I once had, where a language split results in one language dropping a lot of the social nuances (think dropping formal-you, and most of the honorifics, and like, half the gendered terms.) Then you get interesting conflict when the two linguistic populations encounter each other again, still being somewhat intelligible on a technical sense but being too confusing/annoying in a practical sense.

From:

we_are_spc

"You must write."

This brought up the thing I once heard someone say about Steven King. He would write at minimum ten pages a day.

Talk about editing and rewriting....

-T~

From:

labelleizzy

This is an interesting discussion! Mind if I link to it on Tumblr?

Also, now I've read Mark's post, I have an addition.

2.1: Some Art Is For Practice.
Once you've learned what you wanted to learn, do whatever you want to with that piece. Cherish it, smash it, use it as a doorstop, give it away. The important part is the learning.

Edited Date: 2024-01-31 08:09 pm (UTC)

From:

ysabetwordsmith

>> This is an interesting discussion! <<

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

>>Mind if I link to it on Tumblr?<<

Please do. Signal boosts are welcome!

>> Also, now I've read Mark's post, I have an addition.

2.1: Some Art Is For Practice.
Once you've learned what you wanted to learn, do whatever you want to with that piece. Cherish it, smash it, use it as a doorstop, give it away. The important part is the learning.<<

I agree that some art is for practice. However, I recommend keeping all of it, because:

1) You can see how far you've come.

2) You may want to show other people, especially novices or mentors, different points in your progress.

3) It may contain things you can use for later inspiration.

From:

spiced_wine

"Thou shalt not bore thy reader."

I’ve found that authors who are outward looking and interesting in things write interesting books, those who are completely self-obsessed are always boring writers. Self-obsession is always boring.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

That is a very astute observation.

I've found that an excellent approach to improve writing is to do lots of things, especially new things, and then write about the things.

Terramagne-America has a Get a Life program that supports young people in traveling around the world to gain experience. It's primarily aimed at creative people (writers, artists, etc.) but anyone can do it. There's a description in this batch of character notes.

From:

spiced_wine

Oh that’s a lovely programme, nothing broadens the mind like travel, and they say it’s impossible to close it again once you have.

Of course, it’s much easier if you have the money and the physical ability. Some people also do it for work. The hairdresser that does my hair took a hairdressing course out of school then worked on a cruise ship for three years which gave her a travel bug, as she said. Some do seasonal work if they’re fit and healthy.

And if you cannot for whatever reason, you can always read and always be a perpetual student, always interested.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

>> Oh that’s a lovely programme, nothing broadens the mind like travel, and they say it’s impossible to close it again once you have. <<

Exactly. It gives people a chance to learn from experience and get a head start on maturity.

>> Of course, it’s much easier if you have the money and the physical ability.<<

Easier, sure, but not a requirement. Get a Life has a robust scholarship program, which helps.

>> Some people also do it for work. The hairdresser that does my hair took a hairdressing course out of school then worked on a cruise ship for three years which gave her a travel bug, as she said.<<

Even in this world, I saw a sailing ship advertising for temp crew.

>> Some do seasonal work if they’re fit and healthy.<<

True, but not all seasonal work is vigorous physical labor. Think about all the places that do holiday events and need someone to man a kiosk.

>> And if you cannot for whatever reason, you can always read and always be a perpetual student, always interested.<<

Well, that's the Academy of Hypatia and the Alexandrian Year. ;) You'd have to pry me out of that with a crowbar. A looong crowbar.

From:

spiced_wine

The Academy offers various means of recording progress. One measures the number of titles or the wordcount read, with a special note of completion for readers who consume the entirety of a topical section (e.g. all the horse stories or all the gardening books shelved together) in that library. Another marks the length of time devoted to studying a given topic, which can be either an ongoing interest (a lifelong love of astronomy) or a specific project (reading about France before visiting Paris). A wide range of tests are available, of which the Academy's own are scored by simple percentage: material retained with X% accuracy.

Gosh, that’s wonderful, isn’t it?

From:

see_also_friend

If housebound for medical reasons, I will suggest that people can do 'digital travel,' via videochat, photos, etc, with physically present buddies. Also, penpals are an option.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Penpals are much more popular in Terramagne than here, partly because the "sister city" custom is also more widespread.

Videos of hikes, tours, and other travel are common -- you'll often see people hiking or biking with a sportcam on their hat. A particularly popular option is for a blind, mobile traveler to pair with a sighted, immobile companion using a camera and phone connection. The blind traveler uses their legs to go places and the sighted companion narrates the scenery.

You can also get a virtual window that will display scenery from somewhere else.

Phoretic explorers are another group, this time paired with a big strong carrier and a mobility-impaired traveler. They do everything from piggyback rides to palanquins.

These accommodations for travel challenges are especially helpful given T-America's programs for people with severe acquired disabilities that let them attend school for a new field if their old one has become unfeasible. So for instance, you could become a biologist and be carried through the habitat of your choice, with an intern or two to collect samples. Or you could send someone out and observe via video.

It's pretty cool. And it's all replicable with extant tech if people cared to do so. I've heard of one whitewater kayak team that consisted of a blind paddler and a paraplegic spotter.

From:

see_also_friend

I remember there was a discussion of accessible hiking in the Rutledge thread, I think. I'd be interested in seeing more of that.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

By all means prompt for it!

That's not the only example in Terramagne, either. Cassandra's thread mentions a park with a cloverleaf, each loop having a different level of difficulty. I don't think it's right to reduce everything to the lowest common denominator; that denies athletic people facilities suited to their own level, which is also discriminatory and unhealthy. It's better to have something for everyone, if you've got the space for it.

T-America just has a wider range of park types in general. There are parks for strolling, parks for wildlife, Natural Opportunity for Labor parks, sport parks, exercise parks, and so on. T-Omaha has one with a skate area laid out so you can move through different features, suitable for skateboarks, trick bikes, rollerskates, or freerunning. And of course we've seen Boss Blaster's growing collection of parklets in Lincoln. Big parks typically subdivide into areas devoted to different attractions.

From:

see_also_friend

Well, if it fits today, theme, by all means go for it!

From:

spiced_wine

Yes, that’s a good idea, there is always something that can be done.

From:

see_also_friend

I recall the story of a now-famous author who somehow got a list of rules of what not to do in writing a story...and then used them as prompts for short stories!

From:

ysabetwordsmith

That sounds like something I'd do.

From:

see_also_friend

...I think you might have gotten along well with that author.

I remember one of the rules was "You must use action in stories!" so they wrote a story where the drama was from the character being stuck in one place in a ticking clock situation. No action, but plenty of drama.

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