To comma or not, that is the question....

Actually that's not the question, but a part of it! I want to talk about writing rules and how closely everyone follows them.

"Rules were made to be broken....
Well maybe not broken but bent just a little...
I was checking out a blog the other day, can't remember which one and the writer of the blog said,
"You should write by the rules, no exceptions." Okay that was his personal opinion."

Then I was looking into a publisher who said that only proper names for body parts should be used.
So I'm guessing breast are not boobs, and a penis is definitely not a tally whacker!

Then I stumbled upon a blog that said, "why name the body parts at all"
http://www.utne.com/2005-03-01/HowtoWriteaSexScene.aspx?page=3

Every where you turn you will find different rules and different opinions.
I am thinking that we need to stick to the basics, and then the rest,
 well bend them a little to make them work.

Not everyone write's the same and there are times when we can't agree on the rules,
 so maybe we need to bend just a little.

Which comes to my title "To comma or not." Guess this is a debate that has been around for a long time!
 I was taught to write the sentence, The car is red, white, and blue. And yet others disagree. You can check out a discussion on the famous comma here!
http://www.bardsworth.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=83

Below are a couple more links for writing....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one
I loved Margaret Atwood's rules on the above link! And Roddy Doyle's

So what rules do you stick to, what ones do you bend and what ones do you throw away altogether??

Details and Descriptions!

I stumbled across a blog the other day and one of his posts was titled "12 1/2 Writing rules." Now when I first read through them the one that got my attention was #9 Always bring a notebook. Always bring a spare pen. And even though I have one of each on the dining room table, the couch, the end table, and the dining room chair, I don't take one with me everywhere I go. I will find I am here or there and will have an entire conversation going through my head and by the time I sit down with my notebook, I have forgotten half of the conversation. I also remember reading somewhere that you should keep one by your bed, just in case you wake up during the idea with a brilliant idea!
http://josepheastwoodxd.blogspot.com/2011/05/12-writing-rules.html

 But the next day after reading his blog, rules #2, #5, and #10 have become stuck in my head or at least my interpretation of them. And my interpretation of them is detail, description, and stereotype. Did I tell you I'm a big, BIG fan of Stephan King? I love his work. (Well his written work, not so much his movies.)  How he can pull you in and keep you hooked for hours on end, but more importantly how his words and descriptions let you see and feel what he sees and feels. And that's what every writer should want to achieve. Yes you have this fantasy going through your head. If it's an erotic love story you want the reader to be turned on. If it's a horror novel, you want them to be scared, but it's not going to happen if you don't tell them in words and descriptions that you see and feel. The difference between a book and a movie is with the book you need to describe in detail what you want the reader to see, compared to what they notice when they watch a movie.

Here's a couple of examples;

You are lying in bed and a hand reaches up from under the bed and grabs your leg.

Okay that's the basic detail, but now let the reader feel what you feel and see what you see.

 "She's lying in bed. The air is hot and stifling in the room, so she has one leg outside the covers. When all of a sudden a thin bony hand reaches up and grabs her leg. It's nails are like talons as they tear into her skin"
I'm not a horror writer but you get the point.

The second example will be a combination of stereotyping and detail;

Let me set the scene. He's a bachelor taking the girl to his apartment the first time.
As they walk in the door he tells her "sorry about the mess. I haven't been home much this past week."
She looks around and yes the place is a disaster area. He clears the papers off the couch so she can sit down.

Okay that's my stereotype, because most people tend to think bachelors are slobs. Sorry guys. But go into detail and you could come up with something like this;

As they walk in the door he tells her "sorry about the mess. I haven't been home much this past week."
Smiling she looks around at the apartment. It's really not that bad. The living room is sparsely furnished with a couch, chair, and a TV on a stand in the corner. There is a empty pizza box and a couple of empty beer bottles on the coffee table and a pair of his shoes under the table. Walking into the kitchen there are just a few dishes in the sink. The trash could go out but it isn't overflowing onto the floor. Overall the place seems to be pretty neat and tidy or could be with just half an hour of work.

Now if you wanted to elaborate you could go into the color of the couch or a blanket tossed across the back of the couch giving her the impression that he's been sleeping on the couch.

These are just a couple of examples. Now how much detail do you want to use and how much do you want to leave to your reader's imagination. We all see things differently. We could all look at the same picture and some might notice the sky, where others are fascinated by the green of the trees, so no matter how much detail you put in, the reader is still going to see and feel it in their own way.

 Your job is to get them to see and feel what you do and pull them in and keep them mesmerized until the very last word.
 Have fun writing. And check out Joseph's Blog and read all of his 12 1/2 writing rules.

 A big, "Thank you" to you Joseph, for letting me see and feel my my own novel.





  12 1/2 Writing Rules! Great advice!