rules – Becca Patterson

Being an Evil God

February 4, 2013 by Mreauow

Among the writing rules is one that I actually agree with most of the time: torture your characters. That sounds a little extreme, but for the most part it is good advice. Why? Because good story rise out of conflict, conflict comes from adversity, and adversity means that things are going wrong.

Think about it in terms of your last vacation. Did everything go according to plan? If so, congratulations: you had a good vacation.

Avoid Cliches like the Plague

July 18, 2012 by Mreauow

Avoid cliches like the plague. That’s one of the “rules” of writing. I’m going to take a deeper look at this rule today in my periodic series on “the Rules of Writing.”

Using cliches is a piece of cake. Over using them is as easy as falling off a log. Poor use of a cliche can really get up your nose in no time flat. But a good one well placed makes everything crystal clear.

Becca Patterson

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