What should you NOT do when writing stories?

Know the rules, and then break them when you feel it suits your needs. Adjectives and adverbs are effective when used well.

Get your story down first, and worry about the language second.

Make your lists...but don't be afraid to break the rules on it. Do what works. Decide what works on a case by case basis. I ignore the rules when writing. For instance, the 'don't write about characters without planning them out' boggles my mind. I've never once PLANNED OUT a character. See...we each have to arrive at the end of the story by taking our own individual journey. No journey is absolute and no journey is wrong if the end product is good.

Do not tell me your story, show it to me.

BlueLucario said:

Don't use adverbs or adjectives
Don't write about characters without planning them out.

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Who says?

That goes to show these rules are not really rules but general advice/guidelines that may or may not apply. IMO, adverbs and adjectives are not no-nos. Misusing or overusing them are in the sense that you're robbing the readers of vivid details. But no one should tell no one to delete all adverbs and adjectives.

As for characters -- I never planned out my characters.


The only thing on my "should NOT do" list is this:

- should not tell a boring, irrelevant story about boring, irrelevant stuff in a boring, irrelevant way that no one cares to read.

Yep, maestrowork's highlighted my ONLY writing rule: do not bore or confuse the reader. In my mind, every other rule supports this one.

BlueLucario said:

Don't be over descriptive.
Don't use adverbs or adjectives

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I use a lot of description in my work and the novels I read tend to be literary and also use description. I like descriptive writing. Also, there are no bad words, only bad writers. Every word is a valid word, including adverbs and adjectives, just use them wisely.

BlueLucario said:

Don't write about characters without planning them out.

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What means this? Do you mean a "character sketch" of some kind? I've never done this so I'm not sure what "planning out" a character might involve. To me, they're like people. A character just is.

The only thing not to do when writing a story is tell it badly.

Attempt to operate heavy machinery.

BlueLucario said:

...Don't write about characters without planning them out...

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Outlines give me hives.

Course, I sometimes write character sketches but they always come down to one basic question: what does this person want? And sometimes, additionally, what are they prepared to do to get it?

But not writing about characters before you've planned them? Meh.

I can't think of any hard and fast rules about writing fiction.

Well, apart from the obvious don't write fanfic, cuz it blows, of course...

Don't use a word you don't understand the meaning of; if you don't understand the word and only have it because it came up in a thesaurus check, it's not the right one.

Storyteller5 said:

Don't use a word you don't understand the meaning of; if you don't understand the word and only have it because it came up in a thesaurus check, it's not the right one.

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I think you're just putting a flatulent finger into things, now. Don't open up that harbinger of worms.

Don't write for anyone but yourself first. Write the second draft for the agents and editors.

BlueLucario said:

What should you NOT do when writing stories?

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You should NOT succumb to writer's block.
You should NOT convince yourself that your writing is no good.
You should NOT give up on writing if writing is your dream. Ever.

Those are the only real "rules" I know of.

An author's perfectly capable of working out for himself what works and what doesn't - if he's widely-read, I think, and able to become objective. Sometimes this involves laying aside his manuscript for a while, then coming back to read it with fresh eyes.

The best training is to read, read, read.

I'm not a word nazi or anything...

Still, a misued word will kill an entire story for me: "doesn't jive," instead of, "doesn't jibe," is an example. Plus, people often misuse words such as "presently," "fortuitous," and "nauseous."

For me, there's only one thing to remember along that line:

Drexler's Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Confuse Thy Reader.

Anything that allows me to do that is golden.

Never begin with the protagonist waking up.

BlueLucario said:

How do you know what's boring and what's not? Writers are too much in love with their work that they can't figure it out themselves.

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As SP said, if you read a lot, you will figure out what works and what doesn't. You need to learn to be ruthless with your own work so that you CAN figure it out. I don't think I've ever been in love with anything I've written. I can always tell if it's good or if it needs more work. Don't be afraid to "murder your darlings."

Don't spend all your writing time surfing the net and posting on message boards.

You can, however, check into IRC every once in a while.

"...so, what was YOUR protagonist last seen wearing?"

My only rule (I learn this from Overthehills&faraway):

Don't condescend to the reader.

JoeEkaitis said:

Never begin with the protagonist waking up.

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Oh crap.

Never end it with "...it's all just a dream."


Never say never.

I try to limit my starting a sentence with And, But, However, Then, Next, and similar slower-uppers.

All those are useful words but they're usually not necessary.

I'm doing my damnedest not to end a sentence with a preposition but sometimes the lil' buggers sneak in.

Like that.