Writing can be fun, exhilarating, a chore, easy, satisfying, and a struggle—all those and more, at least for me.
I think. Write a sentence. Get up and walk around. Visualize. Sit. Write a sentence. I’m doing that right now. It drives me nuts. I have some rules (my own and borrowed) taped to my wall to keep me focused—more like, “Stop whining and get it done, Joe.”
Here are a few I’ve consolidated. Some are obvious.
It’s about the characters. People forget plots. They remember characters.
Entertain. It is why people read thrillers.
I don’t need to explain everything. Use only a fraction of my research. I call this avoiding “purple haze”—the stuff your eyes glaze and glance over as they look for the good stuff. It isn’t important (for me) on HOW the commo system works, it just NEEDS to in the context of the moment.
Write what is important. See above.
Tell the damn story. See above.
Don’t jump the shark. Don’t write implausible, illogical, ridiculous…things…to build a character or drive plot. Readers will notice. It is distracting.
Don’t be a lazy writer. This means don’t be cliché. For example, “he heard the bullets whiz an inch from his ear, as he did a double somersault with a twist, out the third-story window, while firing, hitting the bad guy twice in the chest and once between the eyes, and then landed on his feet and ran uninjured to the waiting car.” Get it?
Write like the reader you are. I think about my readers, perhaps too much. “Will they like this or think it is believable?”
Be active. Show don’t tell.
Conflict. Every page should have or be related to a conflict. Internal or external.
Write when I feel like it. Could be everyday…or not. Don’t force it and stress out—but write. Write the best worst sentence you can think of and go from there.
BONUS: Don’t break the writing rules, but we all know what rules are meant for.