Here’s an excellent article from the Guardian, “Ten Rules For Writing Fiction”. Actually, the article contains many more tips than that. Read the entire article, it’s well worth your time.

In the first part of the article, Ten rules for writing fiction | guardian.co.uk my favorite tip is:

“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.”

FWIW, here’s my own two favorite tips:

Don’t bore them

How will you know you’re boring people? A good clue is that you’re bored yourself. If you’re bored, spice it up. Your readers will appreciate it.

Don’t annoy them

How can you annoy readers? One of the ways is by using exclamation marks.

Another way is by using synonyms for “said” instead of just writing “said” when you need to.

If you can avoid boring and annoying readers, you may just write a great book.

Write more – become a pro writer

Yes, you can write more and become an expert writer – even if you’re a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them – they’re not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, “Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you’re struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you’ll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.

Want to write a book? It’s more than just typing.

You’ll love this article from the WSJ, How to Write a Great Novel: Junot Diaz, Anne Rice, Margaret Atwood and Other Authors Tell – WSJ.com, in which many writers tell you how they write.

Excellent tips for new writers..

I especially liked this quote from Hilary Mantel:

“British novelist Hilary Mantel likes to write first thing in the morning, before she has uttered a word or had a sip of coffee. She usually jots down ideas and notes about her dreams. ‘I get very jangled if I can’t do it,’ she says.

She’s an obsessive note taker and always carries a notebook. Odd phrases, bits of dialogue and descriptions that come to her get tacked to a 7-foot-tall bulletin board in her kitchen; they remain there until Ms. Mantel finds a place for them in her narrative.”

Writing is the first thing I do every day too.

BTW, if you haven’t read Wolf Hall; read it. It’s wonderful. I’ve always been prejudiced against novels written in the second person, but in Wolf Hall, it works.

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Novels take commitment. A book you can read in three hours can take anywhere from three months to three years to write.

Here’s a cute idea for you if you can’t get started writing: use Twitter.

How to Start a Twitter Novel suggest a plan to write a “Twitter novel”:

“1. Throw Out The Manuscript

Twitter is instantaneous. Serializing a manuscript may be easy, but trying to contract and make logical sense of it in 140 character bursts is not. By doing this, you limit the flexibility that Twitter grants in presenting your fiction. Start fresh.”

Now, of itself, a Twitter novel may be close to useless. However, it can provide you with inspiration to write if you outline your “real” novel 140 characters a time in Twitter.

Responses from your followers will help.

Recession-proof your freelance writing career

“Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” gives you all the tools you need for a thriving writing career, no matter what the economic climate.

Three weeks after completing the class one student wrote:

“Thanks Angela, for all your help and advice in class. I’m quitting my job next week. I printed out my letter of resignation tonight after landing a contract writing job that will pay me more for three months part-time work than I earned in from my day job in the whole of 2007! You were right – the great gigs are out there, and now I’ve got the skills to land them. Your class opened my eyes. Bless you…”

“Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” shows you how to thrive as a freelance writer. Would you like to write five times more than you’re writing now, and sell to higher-paying markets? Take the class.

Writing a novel in the form of a letter or a diary (think Bridget Jones) is a tried and true device for writing your novel.

DEAR AMERICAN AIRLINES by Jonathan Miles uses the letter device.

Book Review – ‘Dear American Airlines,’ by Jonathan Miles – Review – NYTimes.com reports:

“‘Dear American Airlines,’ Jonathan Miles’s fine first novel, takes the form of a letter to the titular air carrier, which has stranded Benjamin R. Ford, the book’s middle-aged protagonist, in O’Hare Airport on the way to his estranged daughter’s wedding.”

So if you’re writing a novel and are stuck, write a chapter or two in the form of a letter. It’s a fascinating way to reveal more of your character and help him come alive for the reader – and for you.

As the screenwriters strike drags on, some writers are turning to writing novels.

Hollywood writers turn to Plan B: the novel comments however: “‘Oftentimes, you shudder when a screenwriter sends you a novel, because they tend to be strong with dialogue but crappy with context, and novels are all about creating the proper context for the story,’ said Evans, whose clients include Smith and Michael Chabon. ‘Screenwriters are attracted to novel writing because they can let their freak flag fly and just write what they want, but the truly talented novelist-slash-screenwriter is very rare.’”

If you assess the demands of the medium you’re writing in, you can be successful at writing anything. But writing a novel is very different from writing a screenplay.

Write more – the key to your writing success

Yes, you can write more – even if you’re a world-class procrastinator.

Did you know that when you write more, your writing improves? Many of my writing students experience this. They find that when they write more, writing is easier for them – they’re not dominated by their inner editor.

My new writing class, “Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process” is based on lessons I developed for my private coaching students to help them to write more, improve their writing, and make more money writing.

If you’re struggling with your writing, the class will help. The techniques you’ll learn in class with help you write fiction, nonfiction, and copy for business.

Discover how you can write more, improve your writing, and sell more of your writing to higher-paying markets.