Category: Tips & Prompts

My 4 Golden Rules of Writing

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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 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.

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Tools of the Trade – Style Guide

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

 

Meg Sorick, Author/Artist

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 However, it is a bit outdated, having been printed in 1918!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…

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Meeting: Mirth & Misogyny

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We had a great informal meeting on the 19th April but before you get the wrong idea about what we found funny let me fill you in on the details. Anne had written a sharp piece on the prompt of "Impeccable Timing" which revolved around a rather unpleasant chap and his love of beautiful things… Continue reading Meeting: Mirth & Misogyny