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Inclinations

Priscilla Fagan

Golden Rules

"This isn't just my opinion, these are the rules, if you want to get published."

Ever had this said to you? Well, I have. Just starting out, I happened upon an on-line writing course advertised as the first on-line course for writers. The teacher was a 'published' fiction writer. How lucky I was to have found this site, he has the knowledge. Yes, I want my book published. I solemnly vow to do as you say. I did learn one thing during this eight week novel course . . . no, make that two things. First, POV, for which I am grateful, second and foremost -- there are no rules. Hear me roar. That's evident, go to the book store and see for yourself. There you will find author after author breaking the so-called "rules".

Truman Capote said, "Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade, just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself." Ask an author for a rule for writing and he'll give you one, ask another and you'll get a different rule. Hello. There are no rules. If one rule worked for T.S. Eliot, it doesn't mean it worked for Maya Angelou.

I was told, don't write in first-person, you'll never get published because 1st person cannot carry a full novel. Rule? Broken rule: Memoirs of a Geisha, Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Sullivan's Island, Hanging Up, The Reader. . . need I go on?

Walt Whitman: "Resist much, obey little." I think it was when I began to resist much of what was being told to me, that I grew as a writer. Another rule given to me: You cannot make an animal a recurring character in your novel unless you write children's books. Rule? Broken rule: Jan Karon's Mitford series. (I mention her because I just finished her fifth book and we meet Barnabas in the very first.) To think I took the poor, well-deserving to be a character, dog out of The Harbor Master and Bartholomew's Cobble on the say so of one 'opinion'. The dog is now back in.

My rule? If it works go for it. A published author is someone whose idea worked. That does not make it a rule. Of course there are rules of grammar, punctuation, etc. But all you need do is pick up a copy of Angela's Ashes. No quotations used in dialogue (yes, I did find it difficult to read), oops another first person book. And all these broken rules from a first-time author. Boggles the mind. Oh, how naive I was.

Have you been told to show more than tell? I know I tell people this, it makes for a more interesting read, IMHO. Well, Frank McCourt didn't care. Oh and here's a side-bar for those of you (notice I say you) who think you're too old to become a writer, Frank McCourt was 65 when his first book Angela's Ashes was published. So no excuses.

The point I'm making is, learn the ropes, use what you want, what makes sense to you and what works. There are all sorts of books on the shelves of stores out there. You wonder how some get the publisher's attention. What's the secret? I'm shrugging my shoulders. Obviously, not the fact that it has to be a good story. Luck? Maybe. Determination? Yes. But let's make a good story, too.

W. Somerset Maugham had this to say about rules; "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." So true. Of course that's just my opinion.

I'm going to take a hiatus from this column on 'Inclinations' first year anniversary and try to figure the secrets out. With hope and optimism in my heart, when I return I'll be able to tell you where you can purchase my first published, rule-bending, solely my own voice, novel. And, ahem, set the rules straight.

Til then, I remain,
Priscilla, the eternal optimist.