azdak

I can't help noticing that the actual posting to the alterego_thon teaser weekend has been utterly dominated by B7 writers (including people who, even if they aren't actually offering B7 fic this time around, started off in that fandom). It would appear that B7 attracts people who are not only fascinated by gaudy costumes and black leather, but also understand the meaning of the word "discipline."

Gacked from shimere277 and hopefully springing up all over the place at LJs near you. Not so much rules, really, as things to bear in mind/aspire to/totally fail at.

1. It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
2. Everything should do more than one job.
3. The end should be present in the beginning and the beginning in the end.
4. Sometimes less is more and sometimes more is necessary. It's knowing which applies in any given case that's tricky. And similarly...
5. Sometimes you have to kill your darlings, and sometimes you have to kill everything else. Even if it means rewriting the whole damn story.
6. There is no rule 6. There aren't really any rules at all.
7. The less self-insight a character has, the easier they are to write.
8. Everything works much better if you take it seriously, even if what you are taking seriously is that the main character has been turned into a sixty foot tall ball of string.
9. Rhythm and pace are as important as the semantics of individual words.
10. Pack as much of the "work" as possible into the dialogue.