12 Rules for Writing

An Antidote to Colleen Hoover

I’ve spent a lot of time teaching writing to students, and though I sound mechanical to myself explaining these concepts to the kids, I recognize that not everyone may have heard of these writing tips. I’ve collected some of my top pro-tips below. I hope they will help you become a stronger writer.

Here are my 12 Rules for Writing. 

1. Be Consistent

Write every day—no matter how terrible your writing is on a given day. I like to use what I call the “500 Words” rule: force yourself to sit down and write 500 words of whatever piece you are working on no matter what. Not only will you make steady progress, you will also learn more about yourself as a writer the more you do it. Staying consistent will help you hone your writing style and writerly work ethic as you become more practiced, efficient, and eloquent. 

2. Read Good Literature 

The best way to become a great writer is to read the best of the best. Creative writing classes can give you as much contemporary writing as they want, but let’s face it—most contemporary writers pale in the face of the literary greats that have been with us for decades and in some cases centuries. Reading great literature will help you learn from the masters of the field and imbibe some of the English language’s best sentences as you identify your own writing voice. 

3. Avoid Bad Writing

Just as you must read good writing to develop your own inner writing voice, you must avoid bad writing to ensure that your inner writing voice does not get soiled by imperfect sentences. As someone who edits godawful college essays for a living, I find this to be the most difficult rule to follow and often need to cleanse my palate by indulging in some great literary sentences after a full work day. 

4. Write as if You Would Speak

The easiest way to become a bad writer is to try a bit too hard, overdoing the metaphors and packing every sentence with a flowery description. The best writers aim to both capture the spirit of the times and also remain timeless. The best way to do so is to write in a simple and straightforward manner that mirrors everyday speech. That does not mean that all embellishment should be avoided, but it also means that your writing should not differ astronomically from your speaking voice. Elevating your speaking voice might not be a bad idea either. 

5. Be Bold 

Great writers are assertive. Great thinkers have developed robust opinions on most matters in the universe. The easiest way to give yourself away as insecure is to mar your writing with phrases such as “I believe” or “I think.” The best writing will be strong and direct; such phrases are often redundant. Don’t shy away from controversy. Either you have something to say or you don’t. Don’t strive to please everyone with your writing. 

6. Be Concrete

Being bold also means avoiding vague sentences. The more concrete you can be with your writing, the better. Avoid vague pronouns (pronouns that appear without a clear antecedent) and setting off new clauses with my all-time least favorite formula: comma + something. Strive to compose concrete sentences in literary writing. The Russian-American writer  Boris Fishman coined a fantastic concept called “The Chocolate Sauce Test” that I like to teach all my students: can you physically pour chocolate sauce over the concept that you are describing? If not, try again. 

7. Don’t Use a Thesaurus 

It’s easy to rush to a thesaurus every time you feel you start to overuse a word. Trust me, every writer has that random word they overuse. For me, it’s erratic. Erratic vibrato, erratic news ticker, the erratic personality, erratic sleep habits, heart hopscotching erratically against her chest. Anyway, in my writing and edits, I try not to turn to the thesaurus too often. Your literary voice will shine when it is solely your own. Instead of turning to a thesaurus, strive to incorporate new words into your day-to-day lexicon. You’ll be your own thesaurus soon.

8. Omit Unnecessary Words 

It is quite absolutely tempting and enticing to attempt to include as many words as you possibly can in your sentences to beef them up and make them as fancy-sounding as they possibly can be. Yikes, let’s try again. It’s tempting to include as many words as possible in your sentences to beef them up, yet the most effective and concise writing will contain as few words as possible to get your point across. In case you don’t believe me, go back and reread the first sentence of this paragraph, and you’ll see what I mean. 

9. The Passive Voice Should Not Be Used… Unless You Mean It

Learn the difference between the active voice and the passive voice. When you use the passive voice, you put distance between the agent and the action. In some cases, this is deliberate, but if you are a rookie writer, best to stay away from the passive voice—it will only muddle your writing and introduce those unnecessary words we just discussed. For a great example of an adroit use of the passive voice, check out Chapter II of George Orwell’s Animal Farm: 

"Never mind the milk, comrades!" cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. "That will be attended to.”

10. Be Unpredictable 

As a writer, your goal is to say something new and exciting. Sure, writers can have their brands and topics that they discuss, but the best way to grow as a writer is to always challenge yourself with new topics and surprise your audience with what’s in store for them. Don’t follow established trends either. Write from your heart, and don’t be afraid of discovery. 

11. Write First, Edit Later 

A writer’s greatest hurdle is making consistent progress. To ensure that you are not getting bogged down in the details, write first drafts without being too meticulous about diction, syntax, or figurative language. Your goal is to get the idea on the page and to have meat to cut into. Once you have laid the groundwork, go back and polish those sentences until they are publication-ready. 

12. Break the Rules

All rules are meant to be broken. Take all of the above with a grain of salt and find what works best for you. You should probably still avoid bad writing, though.