Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Thus Saith the Muse

These are the commandments given to me by my muse.  By following them I'm guaranteed neither salvation nor success.  But by breaking them, I'm inviting failure.

I - Thou shalt make no excuses, only time to write.
Writing is a choice.  A writer is one who has chosen to discipline his writing.  An author is a writer who has successfully persevered in his chosen discipline.

II - Thou shalt indulge inspiration, foster creativity, and write what thou loveth.
Food is the nourishment for people.  Imagination is the nourishment for writers.  Feed it.  Let it grow.  Nourish the reader.

III - Thou shalt not waste thine words or thy reader's time.
Don't over-describe.  Don't capture the mundane.  Make every page count and every word serve a purpose.

IV - Remember thy plot lines and keep them true.
Plot begins with the story.  The plot is a promise.  To write the story is to promise the reader a satisfying and fulfilling conclusion.  Don't forget the promise.  And don't betray the reader's trust.

V - Honor thy grammar and thy punctuation that thy writing might endure.
Don't confuse your readers.  Engage them.  Challenge them.  Make them work at guessing what comes next, not what they just read.  They want to accompany you on the journey.  Let them.

VI - Thou shalt not kill thine characters without purpose.
Nothing in fiction should be senseless.  Everything must have purpose.  If you don't know why your fictional event happened then your readers won't know either.

VII - Thou shalt remain faithful to the readers of thine words.
Make promises to your readers and fulfill every one of them.  Promise them the world and deliver it.  Entice them.  Satisfy them.

VIII - Thou shalt not plagiarize nor cite without credit.
The wise learn from others.  And the wise credit those from whom they've learned.

IX - Thou shalt not write fiction without researching facts.
If your protagonist lives in the Ozarks, he cannot look through his window and see the Gulf of Mexico's gentle waves lapping the coastline. 

X - Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's success.
Words are free.  The experiences they convey can be priceless.  Crafting those experiences comes at a cost.  Revel in the success of your peers as you would have them revel in yours.


There are, of course, many more commandments that my muse whispers while I write.  This post only had room for ten.

20 comments:

  1. Rats... pretty sure I've broken all of these at one time or another...

    *sob*

    I was young! I didn't know any better!

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    1. You can get away with that, Joseph. You're STILL young. :-)

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  2. I've definitely broker Number V and I know I'm a hairline away from breaking Number I. Gosh, I'm at odds with myself now. I wish I didn't know these cuz then I wouldn't know I had sin in my life! :P

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    1. LOL. If I never broke any then the muse wouldn't keep whispering them in my ear. Tough to uphold them all consistently.

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  3. I love number nine. In my current MS, which is fiction, I had to do SO MUCH RESEARCH. Because its all about stars and the universe and I knew NOTHING about them :)

    Well, okay, very little :)

    So nice to *meet* you!

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    1. Same here Kelley! Stars are great. (Even Spica!)

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  4. "Thou shalt not waste thine words or thy reader's time."

    This one is my favorite, but I needed to be reminded all of them. Thanks!

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    1. That can be a tough one, no doubt. Kind of a carryover from the Fictionville post I recently did. Easy to break that little guideline and sometimes difficult to tell that we even broke it!

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  5. All things writers need to live by. Very insightful post!

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    1. Thanks! We learn. We strive. If we persevere, we succeed.

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  6. Another excellent post Jeff. Again I applaud the clever way you get your message across. Loved it! :-)

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    1. Diane, you are just too kind to me. You sure you're not my mom in disguise? :-)

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    2. Perhaps in another life Jeff... as in this one we are the same age! Seriously tho, I do enjoy reading your posts :-)

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    3. Thanks, Diane. That makes me happy. (Liking my posts, that is... Well, that and knowing Mom isn't secretly checking up on me! LOL)

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  7. I should so print this out and stick it to my wall. Your muse is a genius. Alas, I think I've broken all these commandments at one time or another. Can the muses ever forgive me?

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    1. The muse is merciful. At least mine is. I think most are. :-)

      Glad you stopped by!

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  8. Awesome!

    My favorite: Thou shalt not kill thine characters without purpose. :)

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    1. Yes, this one is still way too fresh in my mind after having typed the death of one of my favorite characters. Even wrote a memorial post for him. I guess I'm a little [insert odd writer / creative nut job comment or term here]. :)

      You better believe I validated that purpose up one side and down the other. I even considered "Obi-Wan-ifying" him, but that would have cheapened it.

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  9. Love this commandments! I totally agree with IX-- research is just as important in fiction as it is in non-fiction.

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    1. Yup, having to comply with that one right now to get the setting right for a short story I'm writing.

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