Ten (or so) Rules For Writing Fiction

While browsing the headlines on Google News earlier tonight, I happened upon an article called "Ten Rules For Writing Fiction". (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one) My curiosity provoked, I clicked. Turns out it wasn't just one list, but several, compiled by recognizable fiction writers. Here, in no particular order (and numbering far more than ten), are some that impressed me most:

Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.

Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said."

Never use the word "suddenly."

Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

Don't go into detail describing places and things.

Hold the reader's attention. But you don't know who the reader is, so it's like shooting fish with a slingshot in the dark.

You most likely need a thesaurus.

There are cliches of response as well as expression.

Only bad writers think that their work is really good.

The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator.

Write in the third-person unless a really distinctive first-person voice offers itself irresistibly.

Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting.

Cut out the metaphors and similes.

Trust your reader. Not everything needs to be explained.

Write a book you'd like to read.

If description is colored by the viewpoint of the character who is doing the noticing, it becomes, in effect, part of the character definition and part of the action.

Tell the story as if talking to your best friend.

You can either write good sentences or you can't.

The better and more compelling a novel is, the less conscious you will be of its devices.

Novels are for readers.

Be ambitious for the work, not the reward.