Yes, W. Somerset Maugham famously said, “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” But that hasn’t stopped many of the best and/or most famous writers in English from suggesting rules for both fiction and nonfiction. So here is a list of twenty-five of my favorite rules for writers, offered for your contemplation, consideration, and maybe even implementation:
- Develop craftsmanship through years of wide reading (Annie Proulx).
- If you want to be a writer you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot (Stephen King, On Writing).
- Read a lot, finding out what kind of writing turns you on, in order to develop a criterion for your own writing. And then trust it — and yourself (Rosemary Daniell).
- Dare to turn off the TV. After all, you are a creator, not a consumer (J. A. Patterson).
- Don’t be a “writer.” Be writing (William Faulkner).
- Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on (Louis L’Amour).
- Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing (Henry Miller).
- Don’t write what you know, write toward what you want to know (Colum McCann, Letters to a Young Writer).
- You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children (Madeleine L’Engle).
- Read your written work out loud (Joanna Penn).
- Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now (Annie Dillard).
- Get to the point. No throat clearing (Harold Evans).
- Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip (Elmore Leonard).
- I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide (Harper Lee).
- Do not use semicolons. All they do is show you’ve been to college (Kurt Vonnegut).
- Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand (Henry Miller).
- Everyone needs an editor (Tim Foote).
- Leave a decent space of time between writing something and editing it (Zadie Smith).
- In composing, as a general rule, run a pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigor it will give your style (Sydney Smith).
- Kill the cliché (Janet Fitch).
- Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose (Elmore Leonard).
- Keep it accurate, keep it clear (Ezra Pound).
- Either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing (Benjamin Franklin).
- It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly (C. J. Cherryh).
- The most valuable writing habit I have is not to answer questions about my writing habits (Christopher Morley).
Nice. Very nice. Loved #6. I’m a L. L. fan, and he’s right. We gotta jump in there at some point and put pen to paper or, should I say, fingers to keyboard. . . .
What a fun post! Rule 10 is one I always do. It’s a killer on the throat when reading chapter after chapter aloud, but well worth it. And 15 made me chuckle, because I’d never thought of it that way 😉
An avalanche of responses, as usual. Well done!
I really enjoyed reading these. Have just finished re-reading a few chapters of Stein on Writing, in which Mr. Stein refers quite a lot to Elmore Leonard. Haven’t read anything by Mr. Leonard, and I’m thinking I’ve missed some good stuff because of it.
Thanks again.