Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Writing Rules: The Stupid Ones Anyway

January 4 Question: What writing rule do you wish you'd never heard?

 Writing rules that are stupid yet I still somehow seem to feel the need to follow:

  1. Real writers have million dollar advances, are interviewed by Oprah and are driven around in chauffeured limos to sold out book readings.
  2. Real writers have a writing room/writing cottage on the beach (or in the mountains) where they have floor to ceiling shelves full of classic literature. They retreat alone to these writing cottages on the beach (mountains) for months at a time to write and only stop occasionally to eat when the local town's food delivery service arrives.
  3. Real writers write every day no matter what.
  4. Real writers don't waste time Netflix binging.
  5. Real writers don't question whether they are a real writer.

Those are my rules for being a writer.

I am well aware that they are all made up and self imposed rules that are impossible for 99.99% of writers to follow or ever achieve.

But, they are still what I am working toward. 

Except for number 4 because Orange Is The New Black should be coming back to Netflix very soon and I'm not missing that for anything or anyone.

Except Oprah. When Oprah calls I will hop on a plane faster than she can say book club!




This post is a part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, a monthly meeting of writers who over think, under write and just want people to like them


10 comments:

  1. I'd ignore a few of them if it was me. Just sayin'. :-)

    Anna from elements of emaginette

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  2. Nice set of 'rules' you have there. Can we add real writers have maids so they can focus on just their writing and not the daily household stuff. ;) Happy new year.

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  3. I will proudly support your Netflix watching! Your creative brain needs a rest. Also, you can see terrific writing on TV. Some of my current favorites for the writing alone are Justified, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and New Girl. All have amazingly distinct characters and stories driven by those characters.

    I have my own writer rules I hold myself accountable too. Thanks for sharing!

    My IWSG post this month is about how to set realistic writing goals. The post is here on my StephanieScott website.

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  4. Having a writing retreat would be nice, but most of us don't have that luxury. And I like Meka's idea about real writers having maids. I could use one of those!

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  5. Haha, great post! I'd love to have a writing retreat in a forest somewhere...

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  6. Do you have a sign-up list for writers that want to follow your rules? Funny post! :-)

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  7. Those are some rules I could be on board with! I am with you on the Netflix though, that would be hard to give up.

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  8. Writing fantasies, more like it!!! If you follow Stephen King, you probably see he lives a fairly normal life and he's arguably the most successful writer of our time. (Maybe second to J.K. Rowling?) Stephen King does have two homes--one in Florida where he seems to spend most of his time--and I THINK the Florida home is on the beach? But his pictures show a home that's not all that fancy...and I think if given the choice, he'd rather be holed up in his house than being chauffeured to events. I know I would!

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  9. Hahahaha, gee, it may take me awhile to become this writer. (She says as she posts on blogs and binges on Netflix, because she has almost finished Dexter!)

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