I love writing. Fiction writing in particular, but all forms in general. I love reading. I love reading about writing. My shelf at home is FULL of books about writing. Thus, and entry on my Google homepage LifeHack.org add in brought a smile to my face this morning when I read the title – 5 Rules of Effective Writing, by George Orwell. This article was based on a post over at PickTheBrain.com, a webiste of which I am also a fan. I keep a copy of Orwell’s rules, along with Heinlein’s on a little sheet of paper pasted to my cubicle wall and another in the back of my writing Moleskine. The note also includes Edward Tufte’s Presentation Rules, Orwell’s Questions, Strunk and White’s: Principles of Composition and a list of Evil Passive Verbs. Whenever I get stuck on a sentence or paragraph this tips sheet helps me immensely.
George Orwell‘s rules are -
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
I find that if I can obey these rules in my fiction writing I at least do well, of not down right good.
Equally useful are the rules of Robert Heinlein -
- You Must Write
- Finish What Your Start
- You Must Refrain From Rewriting, Except to Editorial Order
- You Must Put Your Story on the Market
- You Must Keep it on the Market until it has Sold
You can find an excellent expansion on Heinlein’s rules over at Robert J. Sawyer’s site SFwriter.com entitled – On Writing. Robert concludes by adding a sixth rule, “Start Working on Something Else”, which is excellent advice that I also got from Stephen King.
The only rule I would add is -
Travis’ rule of writer’s attitude – Any rule isn’t.
‘Rules’ like the ones listed above are guidelines. Damn good ones discovered by masters of literary skills over long years of sweat and passion, but simply guidelines and nothing more. Good advice. The beauty of fiction writing, like any kind of creative endeavor, is that in truth there are no rules. You can get away with whatever you want to. The only question is – will it be of sufficient entertainment quality that someone else will be able to enjoy it? The above ‘Rules’ are indispensable guidelines and landmarks for finding ones way to that goal.
