Christopher Wright
Sage
This is in response to Brian's Unified Theory post. ;-)
While I realize I represent the forces of darkness[1] and disorder on the board, I do have two rules for writing. Well, there's one rule and one guideline, and it's an important distinction:
A RULE is a set-in-stone, "Word from On High," immovable statement of truth that must be adhered to at all times, without exception.
A GUIDELINE is something you should keep in mind because it's useful, but that's as far as it goes.
So it may surprise my nemesis that I do have one rule, and I consider it important enough that I recognize no exceptions to it. Following that rule, I have a guideline that I consider pretty important, but it's nowhere near the level of importance of my one rule.
So without further ado:
THE ONE TRUE RULE OF WRITING (and Every Other Artistic Endeavor You Will Ever Undertake In Your Life)
"You may do anything you wish, anything at all, but you must always accept the consequences of your actions."
Explanation:
Anyone who attempts to tell you "the right way to write" is actually trying to sell you a worldview.[2] Their description of the right way to write is a description of the literary world they want to live in, with clauses and participles and semicolons all used just so in order to reflect the patterns and cadences that give them the most pleasure.
That's all it is, and at the same time that's a huge thing. That's why fights over writing rules and styles and choices are often so bitter--because they're not just fights over choices, they're fights over how people want the world to be--or at least, how they want a specific part of the world to be.
But you also have ideas on how you want the world to be... and those ideas are going to manifest with every word you write, every sentence you construct, every paragraph you put on the page. And there's absolutely no reason you shouldn't be putting your world forward instead of anyone else's. Doing it your way is prerogative of every author--of every artist--and you should never feel obligated to give up that privilege.
That said...
... just because you care, doesn't mean anyone else will, or is obligated to. Just as you're free to reject the advice and strictures of others who have different views of The Way Things Should Be, they have the same absolute freedom to do the same to you. And when you come face to face with that, it can hurt--it can hurt to the point of making you irrational. And if you're not willing to accept that you're going to feel that hurt, and if you don't have the strength to deal with it and move on, you have no business taking the risk of doing it your way in the first place.
If you're willing to bear the slings and arrows of people telling you that you suck--and they will, if you're lucky (if you're unlucky they just won't notice)--then the world is your playground, the sky is the limit, your toolbox is infinite, your palette of colors are endless. Godspeed, and good luck.
This brings us to the next part.
THE ONE PRETTY GOOD PIECE OF ADVICE ABOUT WRITING THAT ISN'T REALLY A RULE SO MUCH AS IT'S JUST SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND
"The only thing you need to do to make something work is to convince the reader to buy in and turn the page."
Explanation:
There are a lot of successful books out there that we consider badly written. Twilight anyone? Fifty Shades of Gray? The freakin' DaVinci Code? At the end of the day it's tempting to write off people who read those books as shallow and stupid... until you discover that people you actually like and respect and perhaps love read those books, at which point you try to pass it off as "oh, they read them ironically" but you know you're wishing rather than believing it.
Truth: some people like trashy books, the trashier the better.
Truth: sometimes a badly written book just happens to capture the imagination of the public by being there at the right place, at the right time, or tapping into something the public wants that nobody else is providing. Or by being so cheerfully brazen about it that it becomes charming.
Truth: some times the most entertaining stories (not necessarily books) make absolutely no sense if you pick them apart.
The greatest trick to making something work is to say to the reader "hey, don't sweat it. Just read and enjoy" and to get the reader to say "yeah, OK, thanks. I will!"
If you do that, you win the game. End of story. It doesn't matter if your dialog is stilted, or your characters are sexist, or your plot meanders and winds up at the finish line in tatters. If your reader says "yeah, I'll buy in" and then turns the page, then keeps turning pages, you can write a mountain of crap and it'll be fine.
It's figuring out how to pull that off that's the challenge. I've never seen it taught or even really talked about. And that's where the Lords of Order are genuinely useful, because worrying about plot and characterization and dialog and all that are basically ways to make it easier for the reader to buy in. But they're just a means to an end. The end is to get your reader to say "OK" and then turn the page. Anything that does that is legitimate.
So there you have it. My One True Rule and my other piece of advice about writing. Beyond that, writing is a roiling ocean of everything jumbled together with everything else, and your attempts to impose order on it are nothing more than a series of feeble, desperate, self-deceiving lies intended to lull your own screaming unconscious self into a false sense of security. ;-)
--------
[1] Not because we're evil. We just never got around to replacing that light bulb.
[2] Guess what, kids? This includes me! I'm trying to sell you a world view right now! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE IT. IT KNOWS WHERE YOU LIVE.
While I realize I represent the forces of darkness[1] and disorder on the board, I do have two rules for writing. Well, there's one rule and one guideline, and it's an important distinction:
A RULE is a set-in-stone, "Word from On High," immovable statement of truth that must be adhered to at all times, without exception.
A GUIDELINE is something you should keep in mind because it's useful, but that's as far as it goes.
So it may surprise my nemesis that I do have one rule, and I consider it important enough that I recognize no exceptions to it. Following that rule, I have a guideline that I consider pretty important, but it's nowhere near the level of importance of my one rule.
So without further ado:
THE ONE TRUE RULE OF WRITING (and Every Other Artistic Endeavor You Will Ever Undertake In Your Life)
"You may do anything you wish, anything at all, but you must always accept the consequences of your actions."
Explanation:
Anyone who attempts to tell you "the right way to write" is actually trying to sell you a worldview.[2] Their description of the right way to write is a description of the literary world they want to live in, with clauses and participles and semicolons all used just so in order to reflect the patterns and cadences that give them the most pleasure.
That's all it is, and at the same time that's a huge thing. That's why fights over writing rules and styles and choices are often so bitter--because they're not just fights over choices, they're fights over how people want the world to be--or at least, how they want a specific part of the world to be.
But you also have ideas on how you want the world to be... and those ideas are going to manifest with every word you write, every sentence you construct, every paragraph you put on the page. And there's absolutely no reason you shouldn't be putting your world forward instead of anyone else's. Doing it your way is prerogative of every author--of every artist--and you should never feel obligated to give up that privilege.
That said...
... just because you care, doesn't mean anyone else will, or is obligated to. Just as you're free to reject the advice and strictures of others who have different views of The Way Things Should Be, they have the same absolute freedom to do the same to you. And when you come face to face with that, it can hurt--it can hurt to the point of making you irrational. And if you're not willing to accept that you're going to feel that hurt, and if you don't have the strength to deal with it and move on, you have no business taking the risk of doing it your way in the first place.
If you're willing to bear the slings and arrows of people telling you that you suck--and they will, if you're lucky (if you're unlucky they just won't notice)--then the world is your playground, the sky is the limit, your toolbox is infinite, your palette of colors are endless. Godspeed, and good luck.
This brings us to the next part.
THE ONE PRETTY GOOD PIECE OF ADVICE ABOUT WRITING THAT ISN'T REALLY A RULE SO MUCH AS IT'S JUST SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND
"The only thing you need to do to make something work is to convince the reader to buy in and turn the page."
Explanation:
There are a lot of successful books out there that we consider badly written. Twilight anyone? Fifty Shades of Gray? The freakin' DaVinci Code? At the end of the day it's tempting to write off people who read those books as shallow and stupid... until you discover that people you actually like and respect and perhaps love read those books, at which point you try to pass it off as "oh, they read them ironically" but you know you're wishing rather than believing it.
Truth: some people like trashy books, the trashier the better.
Truth: sometimes a badly written book just happens to capture the imagination of the public by being there at the right place, at the right time, or tapping into something the public wants that nobody else is providing. Or by being so cheerfully brazen about it that it becomes charming.
Truth: some times the most entertaining stories (not necessarily books) make absolutely no sense if you pick them apart.
The greatest trick to making something work is to say to the reader "hey, don't sweat it. Just read and enjoy" and to get the reader to say "yeah, OK, thanks. I will!"
If you do that, you win the game. End of story. It doesn't matter if your dialog is stilted, or your characters are sexist, or your plot meanders and winds up at the finish line in tatters. If your reader says "yeah, I'll buy in" and then turns the page, then keeps turning pages, you can write a mountain of crap and it'll be fine.
It's figuring out how to pull that off that's the challenge. I've never seen it taught or even really talked about. And that's where the Lords of Order are genuinely useful, because worrying about plot and characterization and dialog and all that are basically ways to make it easier for the reader to buy in. But they're just a means to an end. The end is to get your reader to say "OK" and then turn the page. Anything that does that is legitimate.
So there you have it. My One True Rule and my other piece of advice about writing. Beyond that, writing is a roiling ocean of everything jumbled together with everything else, and your attempts to impose order on it are nothing more than a series of feeble, desperate, self-deceiving lies intended to lull your own screaming unconscious self into a false sense of security. ;-)
--------
[1] Not because we're evil. We just never got around to replacing that light bulb.
[2] Guess what, kids? This includes me! I'm trying to sell you a world view right now! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE IT. IT KNOWS WHERE YOU LIVE.