Gems, like all his writing.
Here's the summary:
1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than 'said' to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the
verb 'said'
<br>
.
. . . he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control.
6. Never use the words 'suddenly' or 'all hell broke loose.'
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
But that leaves out his perfect explanations -- and the exceptions.
[Thanks, Dave Pollard, for the link.]
8:59:04 AM 
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