Rules You Follow when Writing

[thujone]

This might not apply to ALL forms of writing, but it certainly, in my opinion, applies to the writing of a great joke:

BREVITY, MOTHERFUCKERS!

hahaha so true that's my only rigid rule to follow, i'll restructure a whole paragraph if i can trim half of it out.

 

[Bomboclat]

if I'm writing songs i cant listen to what influences me
I always seem to end up writing something similar which irritates me.

 

[Lysis]

I'm on my 4th round of edits for my manuscript, and I see I fall into the #1 pitfall of fantasy writers - sticking to the same tense.

The good news is that I have my query finished, and I'm quite proud of it. Now it just has to sell an agent and I get to query a boatload of them.

 

[auto238367]

While writing, do not worry about rules, just 'let it flow'.

Follow proper English rules LATER whilst editing.

 

[L O V E L I F E]

^^^^^^^

Excellent.

IMO, following proper English rules isn't even always necessary.

We are creating ART!

 

[Lysis]

IMO, following proper English rules isn't even always necessary.

Yeah, if you never want a publisher or an agent. I'm trying to get an agent, so tense is important.

Also, to add to the OP's list - limit the use of "that." I've had to eliminate many "that" phrases in my ms too. Editing takes longer than the ms I think.

 

[L O V E L I F E]

Yeah, if you never want a publisher or an agent.

I'm trying to get an agent, so tense is important.

"I'm a stand-up comedian.

So my job is to think up funny shit, then find a pen, and write it down.

Or - if the pen's too far away, I gotta convince myself what I just thought of . . . ain't funny."

- Mitch Hedberg, widely Acknowledged By His Peers As The Greater Joke Writer Of The Modern Era

How many Rules Of Standard Written English did that comedy-writing demi-god break in just that ONE joke alone?

I understand that different genres of writing have different sets of "rule(s)," but in my experience, if you're truly groundbreaking on ANY level, you can break as many rules as you fucking want.

 

[claire22]

What many people lack is - STRUCTURE!
Seriously cannot emphasize how important structure is whilst writing an essay in particular, but applies to all forms of writing.
Emotive language and visual pictures also work wonders in a piece of writing.

 

[(Wordy)]

I tend not to think of 'rules' when writing, but 'preferences'.

But it's worth considering George Orwell's rules, from 'Politics and the English Language':

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Number 1 is absolutely crucial to my practice of writing poetry. Avoid clichés like the plague. DIY metaphors.

I'd make exceptions to 2 & 3 if the rhythm / metre demands it. But otherwise Occam's Razor applies.

Number 4 is very good advice. But 5 I break if I'm trying to subvert the jargon or somehow commenting on its use. I find (some) jargon fascinating, and it can open up poetic possibilities.

Also I tend not to follow any of these rules too closely when posting on BL.

 

[The_Idler]

1.Word variety is key. Use a dictionary and a thesaurus if you have to.

yeah and word/clause/sentence structuring.


best thing about the english language is its infinite flexibility.
it screeches in my brain, when a word is repeated too soon.

It sounds horrible. Stupid.

even writing my physics or chem coursework,
sometimes i spend ages just stuck, trying to think of a good alternative,
so i don't have to repeat a word and sound like one of those lame catch-phrasing public speakers.

adjectives, they definitely lose impact and relevance, if repeated too soon, especially in a different context.

(elegant suddenly becomes a bit too general, if you use it to describe a tree, one minute, and a car, the next.
it seems to be less descriptive, with regard to one or the other.

Rule 1. Randomly hit return after Any Comma You Like.8)

 

[The_Idler]

also, i do hate cliché (buzzword, "key-", american portmanteaus, overused similes, children's book metaphors, &c) and cheese and tack.

God Bless America, btw.



I wish I hadn't said "x one minute, y the next" =P

 

[Lady Codone]

Unless it's for work or school, there really are no rules for me.

I try to follow Orwell's advice and only use the active voice/use as few words as possible to get the point across. Spelling needs to be correct, but punctuation/grammar rules can be bent if it's justified by the writing style (blogging is different than writing an essay or news article or poem and so on.)

 

[Lysis]

Writing styles can vary, but if you plan to approach publishers or agents with your work then you need to at least stick with tense and POV.

If you are an aspiring writer, I also suggest browsing writers.net which has a forum of writers and agents. I used to troll it, but it's kinda slow and I got bored. LOL But it's an awesome place for info on what publishers and agents look at and get really annoyed when they find it. For instance, one of them said they are instantly turned off by the use of too many "that" phrases. I went back to my manuscript and noticed like 75% of my "that" phrases could be rephrased. aaaaah, back to the editing process.

 

[felix]

always always always preview your posts on bluelight to obsessively check for any mistakes, THEN submit it.

just in case you did make a mistake and missed it, read the entire post again. then it's a race against time to fix it before anyone reads it or is shows up as 'edited by felix'.

yes, i really AM that anal about it. you know i'm completely drugfucked when you see typos from me.

capitalisation has been jettisoned in favour of vastly increased WPM, best thing i ever did. but i do try to structure sentences in such a way that this does not confusion. :D

I can implement formal written business conventions when appropriate.

 

[Lysis]

Your last sentence had a capital "I." WIN!

I am typo queen, so I can't give people too much shit when they do it even though it screeeeeeams at me when it happens.

 

[felix]

u saw wut i did thar. %)

 

[TwistedReality]

i do try to structure sentences in such a way that this does not confusion.

heh

 

[felix]

Oh for fuck's sake!

So much for previewing obsessively, eh? 8)

 

[TwistedReality]

That one was pretty ironic, so I thought you might have done it on purpose.

 

[felix]

Ironic Felix is ironic and doesn't afraid of anything.

Let's go with that.