Fiction Writing Guidelines

  • Show don’t tell.
  • Avoid adverbs.
  • Avoid clichés like the plague.
  • Ain’t ain’t a word (unless it’s in dialogue).
  • Conflict on every page.
  • Character trumps plot.
  • Avoid “ing” endings. Instead of starting to do things, just do them.
  • Avoid archaic words in contemporary writing: upon, alas, insomuch…
  • Avoid “filler” words and phrases in commercial writing: “furthermore”, in conclusion, moreover, in addition.
  • Avoid excessive punctuation.
  • Don’t open with description.
  • Try not to write in second person.
  • And try not to start sentences with “and” or “but”. But you will.
  • Characters must change during a story.
  • Dialogue should do more than one thing, and should be realistic; so use contractions.
  • Develop a full biography for each character.
  • Create fully realized characters and be consistent with their characterization and voice.
  • Never repeat salient words close to each other.
  • Use “active” rather than “passive” sentence structure.
  • Less is more.
  • Write the way we speak.
  • In most cases use start/started/starting instead of begin/began/beginning.
  • Avoid authorial intrusions and injecting opinion (Direct address from author to reader.)
  • Try to avoid exposition and info dumping.
  • If you have a Prologue you must have an Epilogue. Consider carefully if they are really necessary.