fiction rules

The Guardian has a pretty epic list of rules from wonderful writers. Read it here.

Some personal favorites:

"Avoid detailed descriptions of characters, which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants", what do the "Ameri­can and the girl with him" look like? "She had taken off her hat and put it on the table." That's the only reference to a physical description in the story." - Elmore Leonard

"You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You've been backstage. You've seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a ­romantic relationship, unless you want to break up." - Margaret Atwood

"Finish the day's writing when you still want to continue." - Helen Dunmore (This really works)

"It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction." - Jonathan Franzen

"Remember, if you sit at your desk for 15 or 20 years, every day, not ­counting weekends, it changes you. It just does. It may not improve your temper, but it fixes something else. It makes you more free." - Anne Enright