Author | Joseph L. Selby

The Rules (and their Subclauses)

1. One work in progress (WIP) at a time

    a. A work may be suspended to revise a draft of a previously completed manuscript or edit galleys of a manuscript being published

    b. A work may be abandoned if it is not salvageable and a new WIP begun

      i. If an abandoned WIP is resumed, this original work must be stripped for usable content and the manuscript begun anew

2. No revision until the first draft is complete

    a. Revision is permitted to re-establish rhythm if a WIP was suspended to revise the draft of another manuscript

3. Do not write a work that does not have a title

    a. This title can be changed at any time but may not be eliminated outright

4. Write a minimum of 10,000 words on those weeks that are designated “writing weeks.”

    a. A non-writing week is a “reading week” wherein a book/books will be read to recharge creative batteries.

5. No more than two consecutive weeks may be designated as a non-writing week, barring extenuating circumstances (e.g. professional obligations, wife in the hospital, etc.)

6. Write chronologically

    a. If inspired, write only until this inspiration is spent and place this at the bottom of the WIP until the story reaches the point at which this inspiration can be assimilated

      i. If inspiration for a non-WIP work occurs, write a blog post tagged “ideas” to satisfy such inspiration then return to the WIP

7. Do not create a project folder for the WIP until the first draft is complete (this is bad luck).

    a. A project folder can be created to store supplementary files (scraps, maps, etc) but the manuscript file must remain in the general “novels” folder of your computer.

8. Copy the manuscript file to a flash drive and secondary storage device every two weeks (or more frequently) to prevent catastrophic data loss in the event of Eee PC theft or destruction

9. Do not show the manuscript to anyone else until it has been revised to second-draft status

    a. A second draft constitutes a minimum of one (but may include more) pass that reviews and revises every chapter of the manuscript

10. Do not query agents until the manuscript is revised to third-draft status

    a. A third draft constitutes the dissemination to qualified third-party reviewers and the application of their feedback to every chapter of the manuscript
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5 responses to “The Rules (and their Subclauses)”

  1. Elizabeth Poole

    I thought I was anal retentive about my writing processes. Wow. I don't have anything like hard and fast rules. I just take things on a case by case basis. If I think a book is sucking, I evaluate and decide whether or not to finish. If I am revising a book, and it becomes clear a total rewrite would be required in order to make this thing salable, then I consider my options.

    I think my muse would shoot me if I wrote out rules like that. I have guidelines, like "Finish the damn book before you edit it", but nothing hard and fast. I think the minute I made a rule, my muse would find a way that I would want to break it.

    Reply
  2. Joseph L. Selby

    My rules have been the best thing that have ever happened for my productivity. Granted, some of them already existed (don't write without a title) and some I learned the hard way (don't put the project file in the project folder until it's finished), but the actual work-related ones I began applying last year. Surprise, surprise, last year I started finishing novels! Before, I would get bogged down trying to fix the earlier chapters or trying to plot my way to the end or having new idea after new idea and never giving a single project the attention it needed.

    Now there are rules. I don't think chapter 2 is good enough. That's fine. It'll get fixed when I'm done. Not until then.

    I'm equally hard-nosed about quitting because it's easy to confuse despair with an honest critical assessment of the work. I have an old LJ post about Black Magic that said, "No one is going to read this crap." If I had quit then, I never would have finished a story I very much enjoy. Conversely, T7S was a false start. I aborted the project and moved to something else so I could allow it to reset. When I begin it again (after JH), I will keep chapter 1 and perhaps some of the encounter with the tinkers, but the rest will get dumped, and I'll start fresh.

    Reply
  3. Chazley Dotson

    I'm glad I'm not the only one with crazy elaborate guidelines to keep me writing, except mine are more like "Shut up and finish the freaking thing before you decide how bad it is," and "Email yourself a backup copy EVERY DAY."

    Reply
  4. Joseph L. Selby

    Welcome to the blog, Chazley. A friend of mine suggested emailing as well. Perhaps I'm showing my age, but I remember a time when your account limit could actually be reached (you broke the ceiling, gmail!). I still worry that I'll fill up my gmail account. 🙂 And there's a more realistic risk of version control. I don't want to accidentally revise an older draft.

    Add to that I do most of my writing on the train with an Eee PC whose battery is dwindling from constant use. I actually have to put the file on a Flash drive just to use a computer to email myself. So it seems to take care of itself. Between my Eee PC, my Flash drive, and my home laptop, I feel covered. The bigger challenge is remembering to copy the file. One time I was 40k into a manuscript and had never made a single copy. My heart skipped a beat!

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  5. Nate Wilson

    I'm sure glad these are your rules, and not mine. On multiple occasions I have been in direct violation of Rules 1-5.

    Thankfully, I did instate versions of 1 & 2 halfway through my current WIP, which dramatically increased my productivity (except for when I'm breaking #5). I'm both dreading and looking forward to the time when I finish my first draft and have to delve into the 40+ pages of notes I've accumulated.

    Reply

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