Rules for writing fiction
Wednesday, 17 March 2010These are about a month old—Dr. Bob passed them on a few weeks ago, and I just now got around to reading them—but they’re, you know, timeless. The Guardian asked a whole bevy of fiction writers what their personal rules of the craft were, and the responses, while not always surprising, are worth checking out. Two things are for sure (and not news): The Internet and the constant distractions it offers are no friend of the would-be author; and to write, you have to write.
This tidbit from Will Self, however, I have never seen in any similar list of rules or suggestions, but belongs in all of them:
Regard yourself as a small corporation of one. Take yourself off on team-building exercises (long walks). Hold a Christmas party every year at which you stand in the corner of your writing room, shouting very loudly to yourself while drinking a bottle of white wine. Then masturbate under the desk. The following day you will feel a deep and cohering sense of embarrassment.
