rule 6/7

Jul 21, 20173 min read

Don’t Be Horrified if Your Second Draft Is a (Really) Rough Draft

If you read last week’s Writing Rule #28, then you might be thinking that you recognize the blog post title above. In which case, you’re rig

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Don’t Be Horrified if Your First Draft Is a (Really) Rough Draft

Jeannette DiLouie

Jul 14, 20173 min read

Don’t Be Horrified if Your First Draft Is a (Really) Rough Draft

Well, we’re up to Writing Rule #28 and discussing first drafts, which admittedly can be pretty bad. Here’s a common enough story about the

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Surprise! That Story Ending You Want to Write Might Not Work

Jeannette DiLouie

Jul 7, 20172 min read

Surprise! That Story Ending You Want to Write Might Not Work

Writing out a surprise story ending can sound like a really great idea in theory, and sometimes it can play out perfectly in practice too.

43 views

Your Falling Action Probably Doesn’t Need a Deus Ex Machina

Jeannette DiLouie

Jun 30, 20173 min read

Your Falling Action Probably Doesn’t Need a Deus Ex Machina

Since it’s not necessarily a commonly understood term, let’s define deus ex machina right from the get-go. According to my go-to resource,

96 views

Don’t Drag Out Your Story’s Drama Too Long

Jeannette DiLouie

Jun 23, 20172 min read

Don’t Drag Out Your Story’s Drama Too Long

I know I already said this with Writing Rule #24 about rising action, but it’s true of a story’s climax too: Drama gets old fast. That’s wh

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Don’t Bore Readers in Your Rising Action Scenes

Jeannette DiLouie

Jun 16, 20173 min read

Don’t Bore Readers in Your Rising Action Scenes

Believe it or not, action scenes can get boring. Like really, really, really boring. That’s why the rising action segment in your story sho

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What You DO NOT Want to Do to Be Traditionally Published

Jeannette DiLouie

Jun 9, 20173 min read

What You DO NOT Want to Do to Be Traditionally Published

Here’s the thing about being traditionally published: You have to follow the traditional publishing industry rules... or be really, really g

48 views

Writing Rule #22: Your Writing Style Isn’t Completely Stable

Jeannette DiLouie

Jun 2, 20173 min read

Writing Rule #22: Your Writing Style Isn’t Completely Stable

Creative writers are never completely stable people, so why would we ever think our styles and skills would be static? Put simply, they’re

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Writing Rule #21: Ann, Tommy, Lantana, Bill, James and Jen Walk Into a Bar

Jeannette DiLouie

May 26, 20173 min read

Writing Rule #21: Ann, Tommy, Lantana, Bill, James and Jen Walk Into a Bar

How many points of view do you need in a story? And how many are too many? Those are very subjective questions, but let’s give them a shot

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“Said” Is Not the Only Dialogue Tag Available to Authors

Jeannette DiLouie

May 19, 20174 min read

“Said” Is Not the Only Dialogue Tag Available to Authors

Whether a writer chooses to use dialogue tags all the time or none of the time or some of the time is their own business. Every author has h

71 views

If You Want to Dialogue Like a Pro, Know Your Characters

Jeannette DiLouie

May 12, 20173 min read

If You Want to Dialogue Like a Pro, Know Your Characters

Before I come right out and state Writing Rule #19, I need to address an issue that comes up way too often when writers are working on chara

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At This Point, Nobody Cares About Your Story’s Setting Anymore

Jeannette DiLouie

May 5, 20174 min read

At This Point, Nobody Cares About Your Story’s Setting Anymore

We’re now up to Writing Rule #18, which reads this way: There’s a certain point where setting descriptions get intensely unnecessary. S

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Jeannette DiLouie

Apr 28, 20173 min read

Clichéd Characters Aren’t Cool

I think that last week’s Writing Rule was probably my favorite so far. But #17 is a close second, since it addresses the awful issue of clic

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It’s Not Your Villain’s Job to Explain the Whole Plot

Jeannette DiLouie

Apr 21, 20174 min read

It’s Not Your Villain’s Job to Explain the Whole Plot

I’ll admit that I’m cheating a bit with Writing Rule #16. It’s not that it isn’t 100% true. It’s that I’m crossing from the realm of villai

261 views

Is Your Protagonist a Sympathetic Character?

Jeannette DiLouie

Apr 14, 20173 min read

Is Your Protagonist a Sympathetic Character?

We’re onto Writing Rule #15 today, and it goes like this: No matter what you do with your protagonist’s personality, storyline or motivatio

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Do You Need to Kill Off That Character of Yours?

Jeannette DiLouie

Apr 7, 20173 min read

Do You Need to Kill Off That Character of Yours?

With last week’s Writing Rule being #13, I made sure to stress that it wasn’t scary. But #14? I’m sorry to say this, but I have no such gua

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Biting Off More Subplots Than You Can Chew Isn’t Scary, Just Tedious

Jeannette DiLouie

Mar 31, 20173 min read

Biting Off More Subplots Than You Can Chew Isn’t Scary, Just Tedious

I know some people are afraid of this next number, but Writing Rule #13 isn’t a scary one. Not unless you ignore it, in which case the rate

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Even Shakespeare’s Plays Weren’t Original

Jeannette DiLouie

Mar 24, 20173 min read

Even Shakespeare’s Plays Weren’t Original

Most writers at least flirt with the idea of originality: of coming up with some story line that’s never been done before. In one sense, an

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How Much You Care About Your Story Premise Makes a Difference

Jeannette DiLouie

Mar 17, 20173 min read

How Much You Care About Your Story Premise Makes a Difference

Here’s Writing Rule #11, and it’s an important one to keep in mind. Admittedly, all the writing rules are important to keep in mind. If the

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Choose Your Fellow Short Story Writers Wisely… Or Else

Jeannette DiLouie

Mar 10, 20173 min read

Choose Your Fellow Short Story Writers Wisely… Or Else

We’re up to Writing Rule #10, a big milestone for 2017, clearly. Yet, sarcasm aside, this really can change your writing career. If you han

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