Rules for Writing
Beyond the grammar rules and publishing guidelines, formatting demands and marketing rules, crafting a story is pretty lawless. Generally you need a beginning, middle, and an end. In most cases you need rising tension, climax and a reasonable story arch, although notable exceptions can be found among readers favorites.
Critics think they determine the worth of a story, readers know they do. From the writing standpoint, all stories are scratches on a page unless someone reads and enjoys them. When they go from being something I created, to characters that live and speak in your head, that’s when they take on value. It never hurts if they bring home money, but that isn’t the point of creation, merely a side benefit.
Some have said writing a story is like shining a light in the dark and running to catch up. For me it is more a slow building of characters and then setting them loose in a setting. Sometimes I nudge them along, other times I am running to catch up.
Writing a story is a lot of work. It takes the first explosion of words, the refining of characters, the plotting and twisting of circumstances. The refinement of language and conventions is something I do all along the way and I rely on editors and beta readers to catch the last bits and suggest expansions.
If I were to count revisions, there would be millions, but where is the fun in that? I am sure that some words and phrases I dink with 100 times before I am finished and they are not anything a reader would think twice about. Having no rules does not make it easier, it simply adds another factor, choice. How do I want to tell this story? What do a I want to include, what do I want to imply? How do I want to order time?
Soon my sixth book will come out and meet the world. Acceptance:NewEarth6 is a great story. I think readers will enjoy it. I always hope readers will enjoy the many little additions to the stories, or at least they will enhance the experience. My goal is always to provide a world that sucks the reader in and keeps him or her engaged the whole time they are reading.
Happy weekend everyone😀 take some time and read a story.