Writing Without Rules
What Not to Do
Write what you know.
Don’t use long sentences.
Don’t write in the abstract
Make sure each sentence makes a clear statement.
Big words, big mistake.
Avoid adverbs … please.
This is where all of these rules and others like them belong.
Yoga and the Art of Writing
If you were sitting on a mat, deep in the tranquil woods of western Tennessee and the guru is instructing you on how to breathe — okay, then listen. You paid your money. You’re there to learn meditation and inner peace. Then let him instruct you on something so basic, so fundamentally natural to you, that you don’t even need to think about it for it to happen.
Writing is one small but important step from breathing. It’s not part of the autonomic system, so it requires a little more effort. But beyond that it should come as naturally to you.
I learned an important lesson in my own adventures in screenwriting. Rules sell books and seminars. Great writing, sells screenplays.
