Writing rules and secrets

I have read many books, magazines, blog posts and articles about writing rules and secrets to successful writing. A few years ago I completed my Master of Arts Creative Writing where some of the lecturers gave hints and clues to good writing and “how to” suggestions. All this advice can get a little overwhelming.

Then one comes across classic quotes about writing. I love the one from W. Somerset Maugham:

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.”

Then there are  numerous lists of “secrets” of success as a writer. I tried doing an internet search on the topic “writing secrets” and the results returned ABOUT 10.4 million references. That is one huge mountain of reading to dig through to find the occasional nugget. It would take a lifetime to read them all. (Actually, about 98 years reading one article every 5 minutes and never sleeping – or doing anything else.)

And when I post this, I imagine that the search engines will record 10,400,001 articles… well, maybe not.

On a brighter note, there is something to be gained from reading a few quotes from well-established, universally successful and respected writers. That is why I continue to read books and articles about writing. The cumulative effect of all that tuition has to help.

Today I came across the following article: 25 Writing Secrets of Famous Authors.

I particularly like the first one which is from Stephen King:

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”

That is very encouraging, because I have done a great deal of both reading and writing over the years.

Good reading – and Good Writing.

Trevor