Nine and Sixty Ways

This page exists because I saw yet another post or comment telling new writers what they must do. One too many, and I had to respond.

The only thing a writer must do is write!

Anything else is what you might do. Maybe. If it works for you. And if it doesn’t, try something else.

For every “rule” you can name, I can point out successful writers who follow it, and successful writers who flout it. Kipling told us the truth: Every single one of them is right!

When someone tells you what you must do, they’re only telling you what they think they must do! And they may not be thinking at all. They may only be repeating a “rule” that somebody else told them. Or they may be telling you what works for them. Or what worked once for them. Or what they hope will work for them. Or…

My approach is Tools, Not Rules. A Tool is something you might try. A Rule is something you must use. It’s good to learn Tools. Learn lots of Tools! It’s okay to treat a Tool as a Rule if you’re comfortable with it and like the results. But it’s just a Tool. Be ready to set it aside and pick up another Tool if things don’t seem to be working.

And please think twice before you tell other writers that there’s a Rule they must follow.

Some of my thoughts on the Nine and Sixty Ways are available here…

Latest on Nine and Sixty Ways

• National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc. August 18, 2021
  C. C. Beck – Cover from Whiz Comics #2, February 1940. Evidence seems to suggest that the first 2 issues of Whiz Comics were not renewed as required by law then. Writers should know that ideas can’t be copyrighted, only the tangible expression of those ideas. The words of a story. The notes of a song. The ...
• Write What You Don’t Know August 5, 2021
  “Write what you know” is trite advice. It’s a good example of my Tools, Not Rules philosophy: it’s useful to draw from what you know to inspire your writing (indeed, I think it’s unavoidable); but you shouldn’t limit yourself to only what you know. For one thing, that eliminates much genre fiction. None of us know ...
• Power Up Your Writing! August 4, 2021
  by Grand Rapids Region Writers Group (GRRWG) Join us as multi-published authors Alex Kourvo and Lara Zielin show us how to Power Up Your Writing! Sign up at eventbrite! About this event Ticket price ($40 for GRRWG members, $45 for non-members) includes three workshops, handout materials, coffee, and water. An optional packaged lunch will be available for approximately $10, ...
• Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost August 3, 2021
  (With acknowledgments to J.R.R. Tolkien and Alistair Cockburn) This is not an original idea with me. It was inspired by Alistair Cockburn’s “Three Levels of Listening” (Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game), which introduced the idea in the context of software development. But it applies to any field of endeavor, and I think it’s useful in ...
• Nobody Knows Anything August 2, 2021
  Nobody knows anything… Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re lucky, an educated one. William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade Goldman’s quote is true of publishing as well. There are no guarantees, just gut feelings and gambles. Editors ...