Well, there are a lot more than ten because every writer has a different set of rules. This Guardian article was inspired by Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing and you can read the writing advice of over two dozen authors here, but these are the “rules” that resonate with me:
You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there’s no free lunch. Writing is work. It’s also gambling. You don’t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but essentially you’re on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don’t whine. ~ Margaret Atwood
Do it every day. Make a habit of putting your observations into words and gradually this will become instinct. This is the most important rule of all and, naturally, I don’t follow it. ~ Geoff Dyer
Description is hard. Remember that all description is an opinion about the world. Find a place to stand. ~ Anne Enright
Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer’s a good idea. ~ Richard Ford
Fiction that isn’t an author’s personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn’t worth writing for anything but money. ~ Jonathan Franzen
The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter. ~ Neil Gaiman
The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on the wall in front of my desk saying “Faire et se taire” (Flaubert), which I translate for myself as “Shut up and get on with it.” ~ Helen Simpson
Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you. ~ Zadie Smith
Treat writing as a job. Be disciplined. Lots of writers get a bit OCD-ish about this. Graham Greene famously wrote 500 words a day. Jean Plaidy managed 5,000 before lunch, then spent the afternoon answering fan mail. My minimum is 1,000 words a day – which is sometimes easy to achieve, and is sometimes, frankly, like shitting a brick, but I will make myself stay at my desk until I’ve got there, because I know that by doing that I am inching the book forward. Those 1,000 words might well be rubbish – they often are. But then, it is always easier to return to rubbish words at a later date and make them better. ~ Sarah Waters
Never stop when you are stuck. You may not be able to solve the problem, but turn aside and write something else. Do not stop altogether. ~ Jeanette Winterson
Of course, the main reason so many of these rules resonate is because I fail miserably at holding to them. (Except Richard Ford’s advice-- that one I accomplished quite successfully.) It’s good to be reminded that all writers struggle with the writing process, even the writers I admire most. While I don’t agree with Colm Tóibín’s assertions that you have to give up sex, alcohol, drugs and going to London to be a successful writer, it’s good to remember Roddy Doyle’s advice: “Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.”
I’m not whining, Ms. Atwood, but the writing life is hard.
Now that I have a part-time babysitter for Patrick, I am finding it frustrating trying to figure out how to best utilize the free time I have. And by “free” I mean, baby-free, since I’m very much paying for this time. (And after two months of non-stop, 24/7 baby care with maybe 10 hours away from him total, it is money very much well-spent.) Ideally, I would spend every single minute of my babysitting time writing. But that doesn’t allow for those other things I need to do which are better done without a baby in tow. Errands are so much easier when I can run in and out alone instead of having to heft baby and carseat (or snap baby and carseat into the stroller frame, since baby is now weighing close to 14 pounds and the carseat isn’t light, either). Even when Patrick is sleeping or awake and quiet, it makes for a longer trip that’s harder on my back.
So far, a balance between errands and writing seems to be working out, though I yearn for more time for both. I’d like to squeeze in a little adult social time, too, but that’s secondary to the things that must be done. Today’s five-hour block of babysitting time included picking up prescriptions at Target, a trip to Old Navy and writing. Five hours should be enough time for all of that, but… the wait at the Target pharmacy was 20 minutes. I spent half an hour in Old Navy (I’m in desperate need of some cool-weather clothing, but I seemed to have missed the end-of-season bargains because all that was left was crap) and walked out with two baby outfits and a pair of yoga pants for myself (to inspire me to do Pilates). I then went to Barnes & Noble, figuring a change of writing venue would be nice, but everyone seemed to have the same idea because the bookstore cafe was packed. I gave up on that idea and headed to my usual Starbucks, where I am now. I wrote some e-mail (writing related, mostly), chatted with Jay via Skype and have been writing (and blogging) since noon. I need to leave in ten minutes to be home by 3.
Half of my time today has been spent on writing stuff, the other half on errands and driving time. The driving time is annoying, but that’s life in the suburbs. I could stay home for my five hours and spend the entire time writing, but I already try to squeeze in some writing time at home while Patrick naps and I like being able to leave the house (alone). Plus, I think hearing him fuss or cry would be distracting (and likely send me downstairs to make sure things were okay-- not because the babysitter can’t handle it, but because I’d feel bad). I might still spend some days at home-- especially close to deadline times-- but I don’t want that to be the norm. So, it seems that grouping my errands together might be the best way to maximize my time. Perhaps dedicating one block of babysitting a week to errands would make me less frustrated because I could spend all of my time (less driving time) writing on the other days.
The other problem I need to work through-- and I’m trying!-- is actually leaving the house when the babysitter arrives. I have been spending 20-30 minutes (45 on Monday) chatting with her and/or finishing getting ready and gathering my stuff. Ideally, I would be ready to walk out the door when she arrived, but that’s not always possible with Patrick’s schedule. This morning, however, there really was no excuse. Patrick was napping and I was packing up my laptop when the babysitter arrived at 10, but I still didn’t walk out the door until 10:25. Oops. I will get better, though.
It’s lovely to have the time to write and run errands and know that Patrick is being well cared for and will be a happy (or napping) baby when I get home. To be honest, it’s still difficult to be away from him and I don’t think having more babysitting hours would make me happier. I would just miss him more. Instead, I just need to make sure I’m making the most of the hours I have.
On that note, I’m out of here and headed home.
Submissions, that is. I’m still hammering out the details of my next anthology (paranormal!) for Cleis Press, but in the meantime, here are some current writing opportunities that might interest you:
Rachel Kramer Bussel’s deadline for Passionate: Romantic Erotica is fast approaching! Get your erotic romance stories (by women, for women) in by March 15. All of Rachel’s calls for submissions can be found in one place now. Be sure to check out the guidelines for her other anthologies, Best Bondage Erotica 2011 and Best Sex Writing 2011. I love the Best Sex Writing series and wish it was getting the attention it deserves.
F-Stop: Expose the Naked I is a new website run by three of my favorite authors: Shanna Germain, Donna George Storey and Neve Black.
We’d like to extend an open invitation to all artists, writers, photographers and creative people of every stripe to be part of our new blog, F Stop: Expose the Naked I. Our goal is to create a space for erotic artists working in a variety of media to reveal themselves and promote their work in a sensually and intellectually stimulating way.
Shanna Germain’s inaugural piece for the site is breathtaking. Do read Naked Truths: A Narrative and consider submitting your own work.
Maxim Jakubowski is seeking stories for the next edition of Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica. I love selling a story a second time. Not only does it often find a new (and larger) audience, it also brings in a second paycheck. Plus, there is no writing involved! If you sold even one story in 2009, it’s worth submitting to Mammoth.
For those of you who don’t write erotica (or want to try your hand at something new), consider submitting a story to The Way of the Wizard, edited by John Joseph Adams. Deadline is March 31. (I’m adding his collection Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse to my list of books to read this year. I seem to have a renewed interest in all things apocalyptic.)
Samhain Publishing is looking for steampunk romance. Not sure what steampunk is?
Welcome to the world of clockwork pendants and steam locomotives, corsets and lace, dirigibles and difference engines. Yes, we’re talking about steampunk, where fantasy, history, technology and romance mix to create a glorious genre that looks at Victorian and Edwardian Era England and the American wild west through brass goggles.
Think League of Extraordinary Gentleman and The Wild, Wild West. Even Joss Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity have steampunk elements transported into space. For more information about steampunk, you can check out the entry on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk.
I’m going to start periodically posting calls for submissions that interest me, in part to remind myself to write and submit, but also to share the information. And, of course, I’ll be posting my own new call for submissions soon!
A little writing motivation. First, the official announcement of my sale of Fairy Tale Lust to Cleis Press in Publishers Marketplace:
Fiction: General/Other
Kristina Wright’s FAIRY TALE LUST: Erotic Fantasies for Women, a collection of erotic fairy tales, including classic tales with twists and new stories inspired by fairy tales, to Brenda Knight at Cleis Press, in a nice deal, for publication in July 2010 (World).
I made the sale back in May, but it’s nice to see it in print among other book deals.
Then today I received the official news that my story “Chasing Danger” will appear in Rachel Kramer Bussel’s July release from Cleis Press, Fast Girls. How awesome is this cover?
Writing is often it’s own reward, but this doesn’t hurt!
Cecelia Tan, author, editor and founder of Circlet Press, did an interview recently where she talked about working on multiple projects at once.
I told a friend that I was writing two romance novels simultaneously, as well as an erotic serial, and a couple of short stories, all at once (not to mention my baseball blog, tea blog, et cetera...) and she told me her head would explode if she tried to do that. I pointed out, reasonably, that she did quite well in college while taking four classes per semester, and for me that’s a lot of what it is like.
Some days I work more on one project, some on another. The real secret is that whenever I get blocked on one project, I can “procrastinate” writing it by writing one of the others!
I have been thinking about Cecilia’s comments this week as I’ve started opening up files and plotting my writing schedule for the coming months. Like Cecilia, I am usually working on a number of projects at once, all in varying degrees of completion. Of course, this was pre-baby. It’s been awhile since I had my usual schedule, with six or seven Word files opened (at least), flitting from one thing to the next and checking them off my to do list as I send them out into the world. The farther along I got in my pregnancy, the fewer files I seemed to be juggling until I didn’t even have Microsoft Word open for nearly a month. (The first thing I wrote postpartum was Patrick’s one month letter.) It’s only been in the past couple of weeks that I’ve even felt like I could work on more than one thing at a time.
At the moment, I have five files open: two completed stories that have been rejected and need editing and tweaking before I send them out again; a new story I started writing two weeks ago; the beginning/back story to that novel idea I was excited about last week; and a growing list of possible anthology themes to pitch to my publisher. That’s not so much for me, really. A year ago I probably had twice that number of projects going on at once. It’s a fluid process, though. Short stories can often be written in a day or two and then I’ll have fewer projects going. Which is usually followed by a frenzy of activity where I finish one project and start two new ones. Before baby, I might write two or three stories a week and not even break a sweat. (Which is nothing compared to some of my peers who seem to knock out two or three stories a day!) Noveling takes a lot longer, of course, but I keep going back to the longer form because I love it and that’s where I’d ultimately like to stay for awhile. Same with editing anthologies. Fairy Tale Lust was so much fun, I’m really looking forward to doing it again. And-- someday-- I want to get back to writing screenplays.
I really liked Cecilia’s comparison between working on multiple writing projects and taking four classes a semester in college. It is very much like that, especially with longer projects. Short stories are a bit like those weekly essays you have to write in College Composition (says the college instructor). I do well when I have a variety of things to work on and I get a bit panicky when I only have one or two projects (or none, these last few months). So it pleases me to see those open files and to know I have so much writing to do. (It panics me too, but right now it makes me happy.)
I feel a bit rusty at writing fiction, but I’m writing again as time permits. It feels good. Right. I’ve missed it.
What’s it all about?
Life. Love. Writing. Editing. Sex. Books. Romance. Movies. Friendship. Photography. Teaching. Coffee. (Lots of coffee.) Travel. Feminism. Academia. Insomnia. Memories. Experiences. Rants. Raves. Reviews. Chocolate. Mmm… chocolate. Musings of an insomniac writer. Want to know more?
