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.