# Personal Writing Rules



## No Cat No Cradle (Aug 29, 2014)

Okay, so I am always interested in other people's writing habits, theories, ethics, etc. I was just wondering about everyone's personal rules they set for themselves while writing. Anything word limit set for a day, where they write, to what they refuse to put in their writing or what they feel is most important to focus on.

For Example: I don't have any personal word limits but I absolutely can't write around a TV, it is too distracting and can mess with the writing mood I am in. I also can't be too slouched in or anything so the section in my living room is usually a problem unless I put myself sideways and put my back right up against the arm. I prefer a little noise when I am writing because absolute silence tends to be distracting and a great condition to procrastinate one way or another but I can't just listen to the same things over and over again or my brain gets filled with it. I can listen to instrumentation for a bit but if say it is just piano for an hour, it becomes a problem.

If I find myself in a real writing binge then what I need to do is write for 45 minutes and then meditate for 5 minutes and keep the cycle going because if I break it I can't get back into that mode but I don't always write like that so it isn't too dyer.

As for my writing personally: Personally I refuse to use things of already established lore. Like, if I choose to right fantasy, which is not very often at all, but if I do I don't use dragons or elves or dwarfs or any of that, I try to work on inventing my own creatures but maybe with some familiar qualities to it doesn't get mixed up in trying to describe every detail to no avail. I also try to avoid common phrases in writing (though not always successful) such as 'the light glimmered in her eyes' or 'he disappeared into the dark of the night'. 

One big rule I have is to make no one perfect. The main character is an obvious one for this rule but it is much harder to do for, say, a love interest of sorts because you want the reader to find her as enchanting as the main character does but I get angry when they are the world's most charitable human being and they are always looking out for the misunderstood or if they do anything wrong it was always from the goodness of their hearts so I usually try to give one thing a character is absolutely wrong about to make them more realistic as well as human and connectable...

What about you all?


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## Deleted member 56686 (Aug 29, 2014)

Well I need music. Sometimes that can put me into the mood. What I like to do lately is write or read while surfing this forum at the same time. I like to write at least 1000 words a day minimum but I also want to know what the heck I am writing. When I do get in a rhythm I seem to develop something of a  stream of consciousness and will just keep writing until it gets interrupted. Like you No Cat once I stop I can't seem to get on track.

I'm still trying to figure out what my writing direction should be. I originally thought I was going do write dramedy type novels but I'm beginning to wonder if I may be better at doing short stories with a warped sort of bent. Well we'll see.


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## Apple Ice (Aug 29, 2014)

There are loads of things I absolutely won't write, like certain plots or character or something, but I can't for the life of me remember them at the moment. Will have to come back to it. I have to write in silence and I only write when I can bothered. I find writing so tedious it's unreal, so if I actually forced myself to do it I wouldn't ever write anything.


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## Kyle R (Aug 29, 2014)

My personal rules:

1) Craft a solid plot before I begin writing. For me, failing to plan is planning to fail.

2) Write with minimal distractions.

3) If needed, write poorly in order to keep moving forward, then make things better upon future revisions.

4) Submit!

:encouragement:


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## Seedy M. (Aug 29, 2014)

Don't like distractions, but can write around them. I am a nut about certain mechanics. I write a lot of series things, so my characters must have and maintain uniqueness and have to be identifiable from traits and speech habits, etc.
In mysteries, I _must_ have the clues presented in the work. Half the fun of reading mysteries, to me, is trying to find who-done-it before the detective. I feel writers who suddenly have the culprit drop out of the blue last chapter are cheating their readers. I have to stop myself from having "and" four times in a sentence and such. I always go through on an edit specifically to remove those terms or words.
In most things I can write some today and come back to it next week. Mysteries, I have to go straight through or I leave out things I assumed were there, but weren't. I lose connections if I pause in the writing.
Also, write from a general idea. An outline would destroy my ability, such as it is. Never write to a word count or other restricter, either direction.
As you might note, it has been several days since I was writing. When I'm in the process, I do _not_ go to forums. I do not even check my e-mail. I do not answer the phone (I turn it off) and I do not answer the door.
Maybe that's why the neighbors think I'm a weird gringo!


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## T.S.Bowman (Aug 29, 2014)

No Cat No Cradle said:


> As for my writing personally: Personally I refuse to use things of already established lore. Like, if I choose to right fantasy, which is not very often at all, but if I do I don't use dragons or elves or dwarfs or any of that, I try to work on inventing my own creatures but maybe with some familiar qualities to it doesn't get mixed up in trying to describe every detail to no avail. I also try to avoid common phrases in writing (though not always successful) such as 'the light glimmered in her eyes' or 'he disappeared into the dark of the night'.



I have nothing against using any established races...I just use them in my own ways. There will probably be an elvish character in my WIP (I'm thinking the female wizard's apprentice will most likely be that character) and that's fine. The elves will still be the ancient race it normally is. But I have also created another race who are the keepers of the secrets of magic in the world I created. I am wiling to use trolls and other creatures (although I am going to avoid using orcs because I find them useful only for battle fodder) but I have already created one creature (still being polished) and will be trying to come up with a couple of others.

Other than that, I have no hard and fast rules that I write by. Sometimes there is music playing, sometimes there isn't. Sometimes I sit on the couch, sometimes out on the porch.


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## Pidgeon84 (Aug 29, 2014)

Oh, I don't know. Not really. I hate rules.


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## Ari (Aug 29, 2014)

*No Cat No Cradle*, your username keeps making me say "No cat no cradle... no fish no fowl... no socks no shoes... no hair no haircut..."

As for my writing rules, I don't have very many cos I don't really like rules all that much. But there are a few.

*1.* If there's an exam coming up, I don't have write.  

*2.* If I don't _want_ to write, then I'm forbidden to write for that entire day. Which means I'll rush right off and get out a few hundred words.

*3.* If I can't write a section, skip it and come back to it later.

As for places, I have a small laptop and can basically write anywhere. I like silence most, music is nice, conversation is fine if it's not aimed at me... I can't write in the same place as an argument though. 

As for content, there's no rules there. What happens will happen. 
I have no problem using sentences like the ones you mentioned, "the light glimmered in her eyes" or "he disappeared into the dark of the night" for sometimes things are beautiful just because they are familiar. Sometimes a familiar sentence will lift and carry you through the story in the way a different one would not.

That said, I don't like to repeat myself. I love Philip Pallman, but in _His Dark Materials_ almost every time he mentions Hester he describes her in the same way with the same words. 
It really gets on my nerves.


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## Nickleby (Aug 29, 2014)

I avoid cliches like the plague. Passive voice is not used under any circumstance. It is also true that I avoid the use of the verb _to be_, excessive verbosity, and cleft sentences whenever possible.


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## J Anfinson (Aug 29, 2014)

The only rule I have for myself is that I have to be passionate about whatever idea I come up with. If it's shiny at first but loses the luster while I'm letting it brew, then I might as well not bother writing it. My best ideas tend to stay shiny and scream "write me".


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## EmmaSohan (Aug 29, 2014)

I write in first person present, always. I work really hard to present only what my main character would think and feel and experience and use my main character's voice.

Cheating. In some books, I present a few conversations the main character cannot see. They are 99% dialogue, with an occasional mention of movement or laughter. 

Or, I present other character's thoughts. Those are infrequent and well-marked. They are also retrospective -- you read their thoughts long after the scene is over.

And I never do both in the same book.

Fun question, No Cat. Thanks


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## Jon M (Aug 29, 2014)

Say it new or say it straight. 

But that was someone else's rule first, and I stole it. And I suppose that is my second rule.


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## Miles-Kirk (Aug 29, 2014)

I tend to write as soon as inspiration hits, no matter where I am or what I am doing. I also throw grammar and spelling to the wind to keep a constant flow of typing, to get all the ideas on to the page. Then, tidy it up afterwards. 

Writing at a desk with plants seems to calm me, it also is known that plants stimulate the brain further, as it's receiving more oxygen.

If I am writing a short story or novella, then ideally i'd next character trait sheets as well as a plot time line and event details so I'm more focused on telling the story than creating one.


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## T.S.Bowman (Aug 29, 2014)

Ari said:


> *No Cat No Cradle*, your username keeps making me say "No cat no cradle... no fish no fowl... no socks no shoes... no hair no haircut..."



OMG!!! An Eddie Izzard fan!?!?


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## Ari (Aug 29, 2014)

T.S.Bowman said:


> OMG!!! An Eddie Izzard fan!?!?



YES!!!


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## T.S.Bowman (Aug 29, 2014)

Ari said:


> YES!!!



Sweet! He's one of the funniest comedians I have ever seen. I have every one of his standup videos...I think. LOL


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## No Cat No Cradle (Aug 30, 2014)

Ari said:


> *No Cat No Cradle*, your username keeps making me say "No cat no cradle... no fish no fowl... no socks no shoes... no hair no haircut..."


oddly enough I love Eddie Izzard but was not thinking him when I chose the name, haha. Now I kinda wish I was...I'll just pretend <_< >_>


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## Ari (Aug 30, 2014)

T.S.Bowman said:


> Sweet! He's one of the funniest comedians I have ever seen. I have every one of his standup videos...I think. LOL



Absolutely. I've seen all his shows on DVD too, and the new one... on youtube <--- bad and guilty 



No Cat No Cradle said:


> oddly enough I love Eddie Izzard but was not thinking him when I chose the name, haha. Now I kinda wish I was...I'll just pretend <_< >_>



Ah, you can totally pretend you did. I thought you had. It fits so well


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## Apple Ice (Aug 30, 2014)

Thought of two (albeit minor ones). You know when someone says something to you along the lines of "I really need/want to tell you something but I can't." Have you ever in your life said "Ah, never-mind, it's okay." No, you keep calling them names and don't leave them alone until they do tell you. So why characters in books and such react in the former I just think, what a load of shit, and it really, really frustrates me. So, I don't do that.

You know when you're about to meet a friend of a friend and your friend say something along the lines of "Oh, she's _so sassy."_And then this persons one personality trait is to be sassy? No because that doesn't happen. Well, I've met a few people like that but I'm sure if I was around them longer I would have found other traits. So basically,  a character who can actually have one adjective to sum them up, such as sassy. The more adjectives the better, and the more varied the better, even if it's one such as "dickhead" (which coincidentally is my main personality trait, I've been told).

Oh, and character's who aren't supposed to be stupid but then for some reason decide investigate a quivering bush in Death Mountain alone. Especially if it's the protagonist and you have to put up with shit like that for another 255 pages.


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## T.S.Bowman (Aug 31, 2014)

Apple Ice said:


> Oh, and character's who aren't supposed to be stupid but then for some reason decide investigate a quivering bush in Death Mountain alone. Especially if it's the protagonist and you have to put up with shit like that for another 255 pages.



That's why I don't watch horror movies anymore. Anyone with a lick of sense isn't going to go check out the noise in the woods on a dark and foggy night. But these people over here...they are so big and brave...or just incredibly stupid that they are gonna go check it out while wearing high heels. That goes for the women AND the men.


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## Poet of Gore (Aug 31, 2014)

no semi-colons. i would eat a dog biscuit first


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## Ari (Aug 31, 2014)

T.S.Bowman said:


> [...] Anyone with a lick of sense isn't going to go check out the noise in the woods on a dark and foggy night. [..]



As Eddie Izzard once pointed out, the trick is to listen to the music. If you start going one way and music is slow and creepy, you know you gotta take a different path.


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## voltigeur (Aug 31, 2014)

I don’t write everyday due to my work schedule. 12 hour shifts with 2 hours commuting doesn’t leave time on work days. Good news is I only work 4 days a week so 3 days I write. 

I also joined a critique group of active, and retired writers and editors that also have novels they are trying to write. Great group! My rule is: “be coachable” and keep my ego out of the work.  While I don’t agree with everything said I listen and seriously consider. 

A hard fast rule is if I have to explain myself to a reader; I need to re-write it. 

Ethics: 

My novels are historical fiction / thrillers. I have to stay to a historical time line so I spend a good amount of time looking for beginning middle and end points on real calendars. I stay true to the events as my characters live through them. 

I do very in depth research. In many cases when I’m going to be writing about a battle I have actual names of the casualties and real life people in command positions that screwed up. I always change the names and invent characters and never use real life people like that.  I made a choice to never use the real name of a casualty out of respect to their family members. 

Violence is an issue I struggle with.  Part of my story takes place in El Salvador in the 80’s. The type of real violence I have found in research far exceeds my sickest imagination.  I’m still working on how to deal with some details. 

Characters: 

I enjoy making flawed characters. My characters are not boy scouts. Sometimes they do bad things for bad reasons. Sometimes they kill in the service of their countries sometimes they are pissed and have guns. 

The fun part of writing for me is that when I sit down and my characters come out to play? We play rough, I mean extremely rough. 

By the end of this book they may be coming to take me away! lol


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## Pidgeon84 (Aug 31, 2014)

Hey, I think I put together a real grow'd up thought about this subject. I don't really have rules, because anything of interest will always break a rule or two. No rule is safe. So it's pointless to have them (this only applies to writing. I'm not an anarchist). Why box yourself in?!


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## Terry D (Aug 31, 2014)

Only one rule for me; write the best I am capable of every time I sit down at the keyboard. I'm not perfect, and I know much of what I write will be tweaked and massaged, but that tweaking and massaging is much easier if applied to my best work. I don't subscribe to the 'get it down and fix it later' school of thought. For me that breeds sloppiness and a willingness to settle for 'good enough.' I don't believe good enough is ever good enough.


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## J Anfinson (Aug 31, 2014)

Terry D said:


> I don't subscribe to the 'get it down and fix it later' school of thought. For me that breeds sloppiness and a willingness to settle for 'good enough.' I don't believe good enough is ever good enough.



I can't stand writing that way. It drives me crazy to leave slop I know I'll just have to fix later. However, I've got it in my head that that method is what I'll use to complete Nano this year. It's sure to be something that will never see the light of day, but I think it would be fun to see how many words I can get in 30 days by just letting loose and not worrying about plot and structure and all that stuff for once. There's no way I could do that to the stories I care about, though. They're too precious to me.


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## ziodice (Aug 31, 2014)

I have only two rules, although the first is semi-flexible, and it applies especially at night: Before making any major changes, sleep on it and read it again later before deciding whether it truly needs to be changed. The other rule is to always keep a record of any changes you made (and often why) in case you regret any.


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## Deleted member 56686 (Aug 31, 2014)

I'm also of the school of fix it as you go along. I hate the idea of going back and fix what seems like hundreds of spelling and punctuation errors.


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## Threak 17 (Sep 7, 2014)

The only writing rule I've set for myself -- stay away from the internet until I'm done with the day's work.  Otherwise, I'd get nothing done.


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## Bishop (Sep 8, 2014)

My rule is to write 2K words a day, though in the wake of my surgery and my recovery, I've bumped that down to about 1K because I can't breathe, and when I can't breathe out of my nose, I get horribly distracted and hate myself and feel fat and... okay, that's a dark corner. Point is, 2K a day. Other than that, there are no rules, so get out there and keep writing about starships, Bishop.


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## Kyle R (Sep 8, 2014)

Terry D said:


> Only one rule for me; write the best I am capable of every time I sit down at the keyboard. I'm not perfect, and I know much of what I write will be tweaked and massaged, but that tweaking and massaging is much easier if applied to my best work. I don't subscribe to the 'get it down and fix it later' school of thought. For me that breeds sloppiness and a willingness to settle for 'good enough.' I don't believe good enough is ever good enough.





			
				J Anfinson said:
			
		

> I can't stand writing that way. It drives me crazy to leave slop I know I'll just have to fix later. However, I've got it in my head that that method is what I'll use to complete Nano this year. It's sure to be something that will never see the light of day, but I think it would be fun to see how many words I can get in 30 days by just letting loose and not worrying about plot and structure and all that stuff for once. There's no way I could do that to the stories I care about, though. They're too precious to me.



I work from a different viewpoint.

For me, I feel the same way when it comes to things being "good enough." Like you mention, Terry, it's rarely good enough. Or, like you mention, J, when stories are precious to me, I'm going to want to rework them again and again.

That means, even if I write the first draft to the peak of my skills as a writer—I'm still going to be dissatisfied and believe I can do it better. So I'm going to rewrite the whole thing, regardless. Even if it's the best prose I've ever written in my life—I'm going to try to do it better on the second draft.

So, I ask myself, "Why exert yourself with the first draft if it's going to be rewritten no matter what?" That's my perspective, at least. So, I try to just "get it written" and move on, knowing that the perfectionist in me is going to want another crack at it soon enough.

We all have our different strategies. What I find interesting is how writers can share similar perspectives and reach vastly different conclusions as a result.

Also fun to see how great writing can come about from so many different approaches. :encouragement:


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## Bishop (Sep 8, 2014)

Kyle R said:


> So, I ask myself, "Why exert yourself with the first draft if it's going to be rewritten no matter what?" That's my perspective, at least. So, I try to just "get it written" and move on, knowing that the perfectionist in me is going to want another crack at it soon enough.



I work in a similar vein too, and us being on opposite sides of the "planning" coin, that's interesting to me. My perspective is that writing the draft is the trudging part, the marathon part. Going back at the end and working that second draft is about smoothing out wrinkles and tying up loose ends, making it much easier because you get to look at your work as a whole and piece it how it needs to be.

I often push myself through scenes, and yes, sometimes I come back and cringe at it later, but I always always fix it to the best of my ability. It allows me to grow as a writer as well, being able to see my own mistakes even when I might not have seen them as I wrote them.


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## J Anfinson (Sep 8, 2014)

Kyle R said:


> That means, even if I write the first draft to the peak of my skills as a writer—I'm still going to be dissatisfied and believe I can do it better. So I'm going to rewrite the whole thing, regardless. Even if it's the best prose I've ever written in my life—I'm going to try to do it better on the second draft.



That's where we agree 



> So, I ask myself, "Why exert yourself with the first draft if it's going to be rewritten no matter what?"



For me, I can't stand _not_ writing the first draft to the best of my ability. It will of course be edited or rewritten several times, but I have a hard time getting into what I'm writing if I'm being sloppy. I feel like I have to be at least satisfied with what I've got in order to move on. It's a curse as far as I'm concerned, and I don't encourage it because progress is slow.


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## kyl (Sep 9, 2014)

One of my golden rules is: continuity. If I can't remember a plot point or where the characters were or how they were feeling in the last(s) chapter(s), then what the hell I am doing? I must familiarize myself with the world or story I've created before I write anything.


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## Tettsuo (Sep 9, 2014)

One of my quirkier rules is to write my descriptions from one point to the next.  Like top to bottom, left to right, bottom to top, etc.


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## No Cat No Cradle (Sep 10, 2014)

Anybody ever restrict themselves or forced themselves out of their comfort zone of writing mechanics or such to challenge themselves?


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## T.S.Bowman (Sep 10, 2014)

No Cat No Cradle said:


> Anybody ever restrict themselves or forced themselves out of their comfort zone of writing mechanics or such to challenge themselves?



I do that every time I enter one of the challenges here. 

I really enjoy writing Fantasy. It's what I am best at. Not that I am all that great, but ya know....lol

I have entered the LM twice and the CoF once and none of them have been Fantasy stories.I have also done a few of the mini challenges and haven't used any Fantasy elements there either.

I don't really want to limit myself to strictly as far as genre. My style...well..it's just my style. I find myself reverting to it no matter how many times I try to do otherwise.


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## bookmasta (Sep 10, 2014)

My rules...lets see...firstly, no giving up. Ever. Second, always fulfill my daily writing quotes of word count, editing, and reading, even if that means staying until one in the morning to finish them, like right now. And always be open to feedback, so long as it is constructive and thoughtful. My most important one though is to write every day, which I've only missed three times in a month as camp counselor.


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## Gavrushka (Sep 10, 2014)

I think my first rule of writing was to stop listening to people who only offered praise. - They were a millstone, arresting any real progress.

The only rules I have now are:

1: to write and edit when I can, and try not to procrastinate too much... (Like I am now, gibbering this inane comment whilst whispering to myself 'but it's a writing website...)

2: listen to as much criticism as I can in the hope of writing a little better tomorrow than today.

3: never give up on my dream, but keep a foothold in reality.


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