8 Rules of Writing

Steve Berry's 8 Rules of Writing
September 05, 2008

Maui Writers Conference, Honolulu, September 2008. -- At the 2008 Maui Writers Conference, bestselling thriller writer Steve Berry says there are eight key rules that all writers must know and follow:

1. There are no rules. You can do anything you want as long as it works.

2. Don't bore the reader. You can bore the reader in a sentence, in a paragraph, by misusing words, poorly choosing words, using the wrong length, etc.

3. Don't confuse the reader. Don't misuse point of view. Don't do too much at once.

4. Don't get caught writing. Don't let you, the author, enter the story. (E.g., "And he never would see Memphis again." How would anyone other than the author know that the character would never see Memphis again?)

5. Shorter is always better. Write tight. It makes you use the best words in the right way.

6. Don't lie to the reader. It's OK to mislead, but don't lie. If you say the character's motivation is A and it turns out to be B (and you haven't foreshadowed it at all), the reader will feel cheated.

7. Don't annoy the reader. Don't use names that are hard to pronounce or write choppy sentences throughout the entire book. It keeps people from getting close to your characters.

8. You must tell a good story. Bad writing can be forgiven with a good story. A bad story with the most beautiful writing cannot.


Do you agree or disagree with his rules? Are they over generalized or are they simple and clean cut? I personally thought his answers were a bit general. Are these the only rules he follows?

Number 7, The Dune series[I'm talking the science fiction one] tend to use funky and odd names that I can't pronounce and yet so many people like them.
And I like funny names sometimes, also if you put a how to pronounce at the end of your book or the front it should be okay I think.

Kellycakes wrote:

7. Don't annoy the reader. Don't use names that are hard to pronounce or write choppy sentences throughout the entire book. It keeps people from getting close to your characters.

Awhile back my close friend Natalie read everything I have completed on The Chronicles of the Infernal Empire series, which mostly center around the life of Crown Prince Belial (a name which despite the fact it is fairly well-known many people have problems with saying and there are at least three "accepted" ways of pronouncing it that I know of). As the books progress his famiy is added to and other "demonic" characters move in and out of the story line.

Anyway, when she was about halfway through she called me and said some of the names were giving her trouble, but then "what where you suppose to name his children Brad and Jenny?"

Quote :

1. There are no rules. You can do anything you want as long as it works.

"...total agreement here, readers are fickle, tastes change, and yesterday's "do"s are today's "don't"s, so look at Shakespeare and the Mona Lisa and see for yourself all those mistakes and oddities that those works contain, and then remember that what you write is not set in cement, you can change it as you like and that there is really only one benchmark to meet here, your own that is, simply "is it you from the heart here or something less"..." ventured the goblin not meaning to undermine anyone or anything here, only wishing that he could meet his own benchmark more often too

About #7, I work in a black school. I have strange names in my stories, but the kids around here don't find my names strange at all (and they pronounce them easily), while I have trouble remembering and pronouncing some of theirs.

About #1, that is simply 'established' publisher talk for: We can publish our crap because we can, and we won't publish your well-crafted manuscript because we won't.

I have read all eight at some time, and found cynical replies to all eight. I am not going to go on a tirade however. I will save it for a later date.

Okay, let me tackle these -

1. There are no rules. You can do anything you want as long as it works.
Grammar and some basic rules of presentation - NO YOU CANNOT!
As for what type of characters, situations, and story plots - yeah, whatever, have fun.

2. Don't bore the reader. You can bore the reader in a sentence, in a paragraph, by misusing words, poorly choosing words, using the wrong length, etc.
Some people are easily bored, so this is a stupid rule. Don't bore yourself. Let me again state one of my often repeated statements, "If you are bored writing it, and go to sleep reading it, then REWRITE it until you are eager to quote yourself over and over."

3. Don't confuse the reader. Don't misuse point of view. Don't do too much at once.
Remember what I said about Rule #1? Let me repeat: Grammar and some basic rules of presentation - NO YOU CANNOT! Just for clarity however, let me stress that writers need to watch their use of pronouns. Oh, yes, PoV - keep it fixed (if not actually in the head) of a single person.

4. Don't get caught writing. Don't let you, the author, enter the story. (E.g., "And he never would see Memphis again." How would anyone other than the author know that the character would never see Memphis again?)
Uh, let me repeat what I said about Rule #1: As for what type of characters, situations, and story plots - yeah, whatever, have fun. There are some authors that do well with a more open writing style. I agree that it not a great writing PoV, but there can be a charm in it.

5. Shorter is always better. Write tight. It makes you use the best words in the right way.
BULL CRAP! Remember Rule #3. Make certain that your reader understands the characters, the locations, and the plot. If you don't, then your reader gets confused.

6. Don't lie to the reader. It's OK to mislead, but don't lie. If you say the character's motivation is A and it turns out to be B (and you haven't foreshadowed it at all), the reader will feel cheated.
This is actually good advice. However, speaking as a reader, I don't feel cheated. I feel like the author did not know what he was speaking about, then did not bother to edit once he figured it out. Again, if the author did not bother to reread his manuscript, why the hell should I read it?

7. Don't annoy the reader. Don't use names that are hard to pronounce or write choppy sentences throughout the entire book. It keeps people from getting close to your characters.
HORSE HOCKEY! Okay, not horse hockey about choppy sentences. Why the author puts choppy sentences with strange names I do not know. Choppy sentences, yes that is bad. Strange names -HORSE HOCKEY! As stated in my previous statements about this rule, strange names will be given to actual babies - so use them at your leisure.

8. You must tell a good story. Bad writing can be forgiven with a good story. A bad story with the most beautiful writing cannot.
No. A good story with bad writing will be rewritten by somebody that knows how to write, and he will make the big bucks. You might make some residual money, but that other person will make the big bucks. Thus, take the time to write well.