Murphy’s Laws for Writers (Part I)
Poor Murphy. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. You know you’re having a Murphy day when things go from bad to worse to terrible.
What you may not know is that there are Murphy’s Love Laws (If he isn’t taken, there’s a reason), Murphy’s Military Laws (The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire), Murphy’s Laws of Sex (If it’s not dirty, you’re not doing it right), Murphy’s Laws for Surviving in the Great Outdoors (Know what to do if you see wild boars, or else) and more.
Well, now there are Murphy’s Laws for Writers. But these are not from that other Murphy, they are from me. Here are the first 10. Try them out to avoid common pitfalls and improve your craft. More in a future newsletter. Enjoy!
Murphy’s Laws for Writers (Part I)
1. Read! The more you write, the better you will write. The more you read, the better you will write.
2. Writing is a craft as well as an art. If you rely only on your natural gifts without working hard, you will never be more than good.
3. If you do not allow yourself to write badly, you will never write well.
4. Study the masters. Study with a master.
5. If you ask for criticism on your writing, don’t be upset or defensive if it is critical.
6. If you write only to express yourself, you will bore others immediately and yourself eventually. If you write to discover and understand, you have a chance of being interesting to someone who doesn’t know or love you.
7. Inspiration, like acne, goes away when you reach adulthood.
8. Learn the rules before you break them. Not after!
9. Like Voodoo and the Occult, Writer’s Block is only true if you believe in it. If you don’t, it ain’t.
10. If you don’t know what to write, keep writing.
Read the rest of Murphy’s Laws for Writers.
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