13. FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB – Every rule can be broken. But only after you learn the rule.
12. THE YELLOW VOLKSWAGON SYNDROME – The most successful, relatable stories are those that can laugh, but also know when to cry.
11. ANSWER THE WHY QUESTION – So what? You wrote a book. So what? Why do we care? What does it connect to? Why take the time to read it?
10. DON’T THINK ABOUT PUBLICATION – When you’re starting a piece, don’t even utter the words “market,” “target audience,” “genre,” etc. Don’t think about the final product. Think about creating the product. When you get to the final version of the product, you’ll worry about the final product. All you need to worry about in a first draft is that you enjoy writing it, and someone else would enjoy reading it. And sometimes that second one isn’t even important at that stage.
9. READ AS MUCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN – You will not be a good writer if you don’t read. Hands down. Even Mozart had to listen to music before he could play it. You will learn all the tools and tricks from those who came before you, not to mention a much better understanding of whatever sort of things you are looking to write.
8. WHY HELLO, WRITER. I’M YOUR STYLE. – Start to understand your own personal style. What is it that you do well? What is it that you suck at? What sort of stories do you lean towards? Why do you write? What is something you bring to the table that no one else does? Do you work better as a poet? A novelist? A short story writer? A playwright? A screenwriter?
7. COMMUNITY – Find a writing community. Writing is not just for you, solely holding yourself up in an attic with a lone lightbulb typing away your sorrows in words only you understand. Along with reading, you must share your own writing. You have to have a sort of support system because this stuff can be brutal. Rejection, uncertainty, etc. You need at least a writing buddy. Or a writing group. Or a professor. Or a workshop. Or an online forum.
6. CHARACTER COMES BEFORE PLOT – If you lead with your plot, your story will have no heart. Always let the characters lead. If the characters decide to up and screw your preassignmed plot over, then so be it. They’re telling you what they’re doing, not the other way around. That way, the story will grow organically. Never force anything.
5. SHOW DON’T TELL – This is such an old one, but it’s one of the absolute most important ones. Never tell us your plot. You are describing what happens in front of you, not just giving us a bunch of exposition. If it starts to sound like a summary or an assumption about a character, then stop and figure out a way to show us through the action of the plot.
4. CONFLICT – We need conflict. Someone wants something, they can’t have it because of something else standing in their way. This isn’t just your overall conflict. This is a tension or a sense of stakes in each scene/chapter. What does the character want? Why do they want it?
3. 80 PERCENT OF WHAT YOU WRITE WILL NOT MAKE IT. – And 90 percent of what you write will never be read by anyone. You need to do leg work on things, do many a draft on it, etc. Character exercises for AAE go on for a good 200 pages when compiled together. These are 200 pages that will never be read by anyone, let alone touch the actual book. But it is necessary to write that book. You need to know the characters. You need to know their history, their relationships, their favorite ice cream when they’re on vacation. And you also need to know your space. If you don’t know the world, no one else can be expected to. It needs to be real.
2. MAKE YOURSELF WRITE – Many books never get published because they’re never written to begin with. Make yourself write. Even if it’s crap, keep writing. Write through the crap. If you don’t write, you won’t write. It isn’t going to magically appear before you. And you’re not magically going to be a brilliant author if you never put the time in to practice.
1. WRITE FOR YOU. – Do not write for anyone else. Write because you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself and something big would be missing from your life if you didn’t write. Write for you. Write because you believe in your story, you believe in you, and you believe both are worth it.
