Roxanne’s 10 Rules of Writing

From Teachapaloooza14 at The Poynter Institute:

1. 95 percent of writing is thinking.
2. Make the first 6-8 words count
3. Eliminate marshmallow words; “there is”; very. Switch from honey boo boo writing to World Cup writing.
4. Beware of the curse of knowledge; eliminate assumptions of what people may know about your story.
5. If it sounds wrong and it looks wrong, it probably is – change it.
6. Don’t be a creepy date;  if something isn’t working, let it go.
7. Verbs are your BFFs; informs readers about your characters.
8. “Things” belong in horror movies.
9. Love your grandmother; you can’t love anything else.
10. Punctuation is not about feelings; understand where they belong; you’re allowed one exclamation point in your life.