Sylvia Writes

1 – Wait until you're finished to edit your book.

Sticking to that rule gave me five books that are uneditable. Stories where I changed gear midway and where I switched characters and plots.

2. Write what you know

I can't even tell you how often that rule broke me when I first started writing.

I've changed it to: write what you learn. I can always research or ask people I know about certain crafts they do. My current novel's mc is a welder, and I know nothing about it. But I know people who do, and they can fill my head with information that helps me write the guy.

3. You have to blog at fixed times to be successful

Well, that's a nice idea in theory, but every time I try that, I fail.

My best blog posts are written at a flash of an idea, in ten minutes and posted after a quick spell check. Those posts always had the best response, not my boring scheduled ones.