NOT using the
panel discussions of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki,
Finland in August 2017 (to which I be unable to go (until I retire from
education)), I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with
the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not
today. This explanation is reserved for days like today, where I’ll use the
Minnesota MiniCon in Minneapolis, MN going on RIGHT NOW, this weekend.
Reading through
the program, I thought that this subject might be interesting to comment on…
Breaking the Rules in Writing—When and how to break the rules of fiction, like
“don’t write in second person” or “don’t use information dumps.”
Rachel Swirsky: Rachel Swirsky is a writer, poet, founder and
editor of PodCastle. Pubs in Tor.com, Subterranean Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless
Skies, Fantasy Magazine, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, and Weird Tales (also a
member of CODEX Online, a group I’ve been with for a few years)
CJ Mills: wrote the Winter World sequence
Danith McPherson: novel and a few short stories
Adam Stemple: writer of novels, short stories, poetry, but best
known for his music – and the fact that he’s Jane Yolen’s son…
Joy Dawn Johnson: writer of a novel
Kathryn Sullivan: writer, novels and a huge number of short stories
First of all, besides the rules above, what are OTHER rules of writing
fiction – and where did they come from?
While the first written word that was created intentionally as fiction
was written by Frenchman, Chrétien de Troyes (1170), and though he didn’t
really offer the first advice, fables and parables have existed since Aesop and
Jesus.
From above:
1) Don’t write in second person.
2) Don’t use information dumps.
From various sources:
3) Don’t compare yourself to others. (Aesop: The City Mouse and the
Country Mouse)
4) Don’t use passive voice. (The Old Testament and the New Testament
never use it, and Jesus always spoke in first Person)
5) Don’t do social media during your dedicated writing time.
6) Don’t follow the trends. (“Enter through the narrow gate; for the
gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many
who enter through it.” (Matt 7:13)
7) Don’t try and get it right the first time.
8) Don’t brag.
9) Don’t write for others.
10) Don’t worry about rejection.
11) Don’t complain – about anything.
12) Don’t write the first scene until you know the last.
13) Don’t write a prologue.
14) Don’t keep a thesaurus within reaching distance.
15) Don’t give up. (Aesop: Tortoise and the Hare, Crow and the Pitcher)
16) Don’t worry if you hear a “rule” about writing that sounds wrong to
you.
I find it amusing that PUBLISHED writers are the ones who tell you to
break the rules…’cause if your reading their article or listening to them
speak, then that means that they’ve gotten enough things published that when
you see their name, you’re supposed to say, “OH! I need to go to that
session/read that article because that person MUST know what they’re doing!”
I’m sure the presentation was lively and the discussion scintillating.
I doubt how much “new stuff” they presented. By that I mean how many of them
considered the new writer?
The person just seeking their first publication, breaking into one of
the paper (ANALOG, ASIMOV’S, F&SF, ELLERY QUEEN, HITCHCOCK’S…several others
as well, I’m sure); or the online ones (I edit/contribute to STUPEFYING STORIES
(https://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/))
should probably follow the rules.
At least until they get a string of some publications and can try
something daring.
So, what about a relative unknown like me?
I could go through the list one at a time, but I think I’ll spare you
that and just say that there’s so much advice out there – there are links below
for advice on writing. Follow them or don’t follow them. Just remember that
famous authors got famous for multiple reasons. I’m certainly not famous – but my
work has appeared in American science fiction magazines online and on paper; it
was podcast by actors in Britain; and reprinted in a science fiction magazine
in Scotland. I was also published by a Canadian company for about a year. If
you had told a rather chubby fourteen-year-old that he would have four stories
in ANALOG, he would…I would have sat down and read them over and over and over
and been completely paralyzed to ever write again because I would know that I
could NEVER be that good…even though I was reading words written by a much
older me.
I did, however, learn how to write well. You can, too.
OK – one rule: don’t stop writing and sending your stories out. (Once
you do, you can’t get better and you can’t get published – no matter how you
wish. As James Michener wrote: “Many people…want to have been writers.”
Resource: http://mnstf.org/minicon53/documents/m53program_book_contents.pdf,
https://byrslf.co/16-dos-and-donts-for-aspiring-writers-1f587f6ffd3a,
http://www.centerforfiction.org/forwriters/writers-on-writing/writing-dos-and-donts-/,
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/books/review/john-grishams-tips-how-to-write-fiction.html,
https://www.nownovel.com/blog/writing-a-novel-bestselling-authors/
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