Although that is a funny paper you posted about "following the rules of writing" (it's cute!) I don't totally agree with it. If you think of writing as a form of "art" then you are allowed "creative freedom" - which means you are allowed to break the rules, if you want! All really good writers seem to do this. After all, we're not back in English class being graded. So if you want to write: Louisa looked totally hot. But only because her hair extensions were in. I say, go for it! As for editing my work? I tend to go overboard with that, which is why I like writing contests. There is a deadline and I have to adhere to it, which forces me NOT to get bogged down with over-editing.
One editing technique that I've learned over the years is to separate the activities of proofing (searching grammar, spelling, syntax, typo errors) and the function of "editing", which is reviewing work for wordiness, consistency, flow, realistic dialogue and many other quality aspects. This is not easy to do, especially in WORD which has little red and and green underlines glaring at you while your trying to figure out if your choice of vocabulary is right for the story. When I am reviewing I do use the "Track Changes" function. I try to write the entire first draft of a short story, or chapter of a longer work without doing any proofing/editing, except for obvious errors. I believe it is difficult to create and review at the same time.
I also use a volunteer editor when I think I have something in a semi-finished condition. He filters the last few errors and points out consistency problems, connotation issues and details holes. Also, if I am trying something new I bounce it off him to be sure I haven't gone overboard (at least too far over).
The volunteer editor program is something that this site might wish to try. There are a lot of people who enjoy being part of the process but don't want to publish themselves, or are in a dry spell. In my experience I have found that it is hard to submit work to the scrutiny of an outside party at first, but after a few rounds it really helps improve the quality of the finished product.
As a journalism major, I adhere to those rules when it comes to reporting the facts. As a creative writer, I like to push the limits on writing and break the rule when it's warranted. Yes, writing is an art, but also a lot of people don't realize how far a little editing and proofread goes when one wants to write a correspondence letter or any other professional document for the work place. You wouldn't want to use abbreviations and slang in an email to your boss or a letter to the editor. Again, time and place for everything, including writing.
I'm getting off my soapbox now.
The seven cardinal sins committed by fiction writers: (I confess to having committed every single one, but I'm going straight.)
Now that we have the twenty-six rules of things we should do, here are a list of seven transgressions that I believe prevents writers from ascending to the next level (whatever that might be):
1. Head-hopping
When a scene is being told from one character's point of view (pov) and there is an abrupt switch to the pov of a different character within the same scene.
Fred picked up his hand and saw a pair of Aces. He was trying to decide how much to bet. Across the table Joe was feeling good about his three deuces.
How is Fred supposed to know how Joe feels about his poker hand?
2. Telling instead of showing.
Asking readers to accept the authors assertions as facts instead of providing a description and convincing the readers to see it along with you.
Joe caught a big fish. Who says it's big. Is it a marlin or a trout?
Joe took the bass he caught from his creel. It was dark green mixed with brown with some speckles on its belly. It was more than twelve inches long and weighed at least ten pounds.
3. Paragraphs too long
Failure to break up prose into digestible-sized paragraphs. If a sentence is a complete thought, then a paragraph is a collection of connected thoughts. An author should be able to express the concept in a maximum of eight (preferably 4-6) sentences. Mega-paragraphs are tough on readers and if there are too many they will decide to try another author's work.
3a. Corollary to above: Failure to begin a new paragraph when initiating a character's dialogue.
It was the first day of Spring. "I really love Spring," Roy said. There were birds in the sky and he pointed them out to Ellen. "I think they are robins," she said. They looked at the birds some more and decided that they might have been sparrows.
4. Use of cliches and/or slang.
There are times that this rule doesn't apply, such as when an author is attempting to caricature a character or group of people.
5. Use of "-ly" words.
These adverbs are shortcuts and a way of telling and not showing.
"I don't know how to tell you this," he said hesitantly.
or
"I...uh...well, I don't know...it's very difficult to tell you this," he said with a tear in his eye.
6. Tense changes within the same scene
When writers write straight from the brain to paper (computer screen) what began as present tense becomes past or past to present. It confuses the reader.
6a Corollary to above: writing in past tense and using the word "now" to bridge between the tenses.
Joe slid into third base and was ahead of the fielder's tag. He was excited now because he wanted to score the winning run.
7. Poor title selection
Stating a synopsis of the story in the title instead of making the reader want to pursue the plot to the end.
"How I Lost My Virginity to my Tenth Grade English Teacher" or "Private Lessons".
A lot of readers will read the last page of that story, but not much more.
Because the paragraph's in Fred's POV, there'd need to be some kind of physical indication that Joe felt good about his hand because Fred can't know what Joe's actually thinking, or which cards he's holding. If the paragraph went something like, "The smile on Joe's face indicated he was happy with his hand" it would still get the point across, but remain in Fred's POV.
I've read novels before where the POVs shift, but the author usually dedicates an entire chapter to one person, then switches to another in the next chapter to make it clear who's telling the story. I like reading different "voices" in novels, but I also prefer it when there's a clear break between one person and the next.
I'm getting better at it though and learning to move on.
