How To Write a Novel in 6 Months<\/a><\/strong>. But of course, I’ve learned some new things about writing since I published the book. I think about writing a lot, because that’s what I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOne of the things I’ve become more convinced about is that there are no RULES to writing\u2014but there are PRINCIPLES.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, I have U-turned slightly…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have come to the conclusion, now, that there are TWO rules. They are axioms, I think; fixed and never-changing. Everyone who sits down to write a novel or story, play or screenplay, must stick to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2 rules are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Finish it: your book, your play; get to THE END.
2. Don’t bore the reader: make them WANT to turn the page or stay in their seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s it. Your starting points when you begin writing: these 2 rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you agree? Anyone have other rules? Or maybe you don’t think these are important. Let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So with Christmas coming, and New Year goals looming, maybe some of you intend to write a novel. If that’s the plan, the above two rules are really the only things you need to be thinking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Have lots of festive fun, I hope 2022 is creative and bountiful for you all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have been teaching some creative writing sessions recently. The writers in the group are great; they have some wonderful ideas. Their WIPs (works-in-progress) are varied, from reality-based domestic dramas to high fantasy. It’s great to see. The majority of what I’m teaching comes from my book, How To Write a Novel in 6 Months. … <\/p>\n
Read More “The Rules of Writing (there are two)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[24,19,33,47,128,60,32,50],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":370,"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369\/revisions\/370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thomasemson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}