Ten rules for writing fiction - Elmore Leonard

1 Never open a book with weather. If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a charac­ter's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead look­ing for people. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways than an Eskimo to describe ice and snow in his book Arctic Dreams, you can do all the weather reporting you want.

2 Avoid prologues: they can be ­annoying, especially a prologue ­following an introduction that comes after a foreword. But these are ordinarily found in non-fiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want. There is a prologue in John Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday, but it's OK because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says: "I like a lot of talk in a book and I don't like to have nobody tell me what the guy that's talking looks like. I want to figure out what he looks like from the way he talks."

3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But "said" is far less intrusive than "grumbled", "gasped", "cautioned", "lied". I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated" and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary.

4 Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances "full of rape and adverbs".

5 Keep your exclamation points ­under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.

6 Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose". This rule doesn't require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use "suddenly" tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.

7 Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly. Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apos­trophes, you won't be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavour of Wyoming voices in her book of short stories Close Range.

8 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.

9 Don't go into great detail describing places and things, unless you're ­Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. You don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.

10 Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them.
My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: if it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

The Dog Ate My Library Book!

If you lived in San Francisco, you could use you mad writing skills to get out of a library fine. The city's library system recently allowed borrowers with overdue books to bring them back without paying fines - which max out at $5 per book - with the caveat that they had to tell the library why they were tardy.

• A group of second-graders said they were too busy rescuing marine mammals.
• One woman said she just couldn't part with a beautiful early 20th century book with good-feeling paper and plate illustrations. It looked so posh on her shelf.
• Another blamed his sister. After they had a falling out, she "accidentally" left a copy of the movie Babe that she had checked out in his name, tucked into his stack of DVDs.

Whatever the reason, the Library saw a record 29,228 items returned - compared to 5,000 returned books the last time they waived fines in 2001.

That's $55,165 in fines that were excused.

What would your excuse be?

$1 deals from Staples through 6/20/09

One way to keep your writing profits is to save on office supplies. Here are some great dollar deals from Staples good through June 20, 2009:

-Crayola Crayons (24-Pack)

-Pentel RSVP Ballpoint Pens

-Sharpie Major Accent Highlighters

-Staples Accel 5 ½" x 4 ¼" Fat Book (200 Sheets)

-Staples Photo Plus 4" x 6" Paper (60-Pack)

-Swingline 8" Bent Handle Scissors

Subscription Contest

Every writer needs a great notebook to pen down their great works, novels in progress, or notes to self. Now is your chance to win this Moleskine notebook valued at $17.95. According to the website:

MOLESKINE is the legendary notebook that has held the inspirations and ideas of everyone from Van Gogh, Picasso and Hemingway to famed author, Bruce Chatwin. Artists, authors, and geniuses of all variety have long appreciated the simplicity and superior functionality of these notebooks.

All members of Profitable Writers yahoo group are eligible to win! If you are not already a member, you can join here:

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Writing Prompt

Open your dictionary and choose three words. Any words will do. Write 150 words, including those three words.

Write quickly, don't stop and think about what you're writing, just write whatever comes to mind.

Writing A Checklist

Some of the most popular (and easy to write) articles are "list aticles". Here are some pointers for writing a list article.

1. Start the article with a 1 or 2 paragraph opening that explains what and why the list exists.

2. Include the right number of items in your list. If you have too many the reader might not continue reading, too few, and your article will not have enough "meat". 8 to 12 items is ideal.

3. Conclude the article with a final paragraph reiterating why the reader benefits from the list you have provided.

Examples of list articles include"

1. The top ten ....

2. Eight types of ...

3. Twelve ways to save...

Can you see the possibilities? :)

Writing Thoughts

"Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any."

~ Orson Scott Card