My 4 Golden Rules of Writing

Some great tips on what rules to focus on (and the ones you shouldn’t worry about) when writing.

Nicholas C. Rossis

Found on pieroblog-citta.blogspot.com

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now. The main reason is that I keep coming across several writing rules that make little sense to me. Then, I came across a gem of a post by Constance Hale, “When Shakespeare Committed Word Crimes” on TED.

Constance confirmed what I long suspected: when there is tension in a language between what comes naturally and the rules, it’s because someone has tried to shoehorn the language into their idea of conformity.

Does this mean there are no rules? Not at all. It just means that the ones we are taught in workshops and classrooms are not necessarily the ones that matter to actual readers – as opposed to teachers, agents and editors. So, here are my golden rules; the ones no fiction writer should ever break, in my view:

Rule #1: Don’t let your writing get in the way of your story.

View original post 1,794 more words

Advertisements

“After the Flood” by Janey Harvey

First place in our local history writing competition and winner of the Joan Stephenson Trophy.

“King of the Cattle Market” by Lucy Grace

Second place winner in our recent local history writing competition.

“A Night Lost To The Past” by C.L. Peache

Winner of 3rd place in our recent local history writing competition.

Tools of the Trade – Style Guide

A nice little post by Meg Sorick on the use of style guides which lay down rules for journalists and writers.

 

Meg Sorick, Author

When I started writing, I also started reading about writing. There is no shortage of material available, believe me! I think it’s possible that you can get obsessed with the how to’s and never get around to doing it. Nevertheless, as per my copyediting workshop, I added a new tool to my author arsenal: a style guide. I had a copy of Elements of Style by William Strunk –a classic. However, it is a bit outdated, having been printed in 1918! I decided to move into the twenty-first century and upgrade to The Chicago Manual of Style.

So what is the purpose of the style guide? It sets standards for usage, writing and citation styles, and formatting. This results in consistency of writing style within a company. The type of style guide used is determined by the sort of material being published. For example, in book, newspaper and magazine publishing…

View original post 173 more words

A Successful Weekend!

Fosseway Writers had a very successful couple of days at Newark Book Festival (14-15 July 2018) where we basked in sunshine and literature.

NEW BOOK: “Gobstoppers, Shrimps and Sour Monkeys”

We're delighted to announce the launch of our new anthology of short stories and poems. The Title "Gobstoppers, Shrimps and Sour Monkeys" plays on the fact that these are small and tasty treats: some will leave you unable to speak, some are tiny and some may not be what you expect. Much like someone else's bag of pick & mix.

Poetry Competition Results: Interview with Leanne Moden

Leanne Moden is a poet, performer, writer, workshop leader, compère and event organiser, currently living in Nottingham, and we asked her to judge our Poetry Competition. Thankfully, she said yes and also agreed to a little interview about her background, her tastes in poetry and her thoughts on the competition and winners.

Formal Meeting on 7 June Cancelled

Hi all!  Just a quick note to let you know that we've had to cancel our June formal meeting with poet and competition judge Leanne Moden due to virtually everyone having to be elsewhere (I'm stuck in Slough, for example). However, I will be conducting an interview with Leanne over Skype and will post the…

Flash Fiction Competition 2018

  We are pleased to announce the launch of our annual Flash Fiction competition on the theme of ‘JOURNEY’. This year you've got a massive 200 words to play with, but remember: this is a limit, not a target! If you can nail the perfect 'Journey' micro story or vignette in 50 words, perhaps that's…