35 Rules for Creative Writing

How to Use This List

These are thirty-five working rules for creative writing, collected from the desk rather than the lecture hall. None of them will write the book for you, but together they describe the habits, techniques, and instincts that tend to separate a draft that works from one that stalls.

Read them the way rule two suggests: learn each one well enough that you can break it on purpose. A rule you have never absorbed is not freedom, only accident.

Foundational Habits

1. Write or read every day. Build a consistent habit of doing both. Reading fills the well and writing empties it, and the two only compound when they happen often. This daily practice is the foundation of growth as a writer.
2. Learn the craft. Understand the techniques and the rules first. Once you truly know them, you are free to break them whenever breaking them serves the art.
3. Start small. Begin with short stories or short three-act pieces before you attempt a full-length novel. Short forms let you develop discipline, structure, and pacing on a scale you can actually finish.

Writing Techniques

4. Draft freely, rewrite carefully. Write your first draft without hesitation and get everything out, then rewrite slowly and deliberately, because writing is rewriting. You cannot wait for inspiration to act; you act in order to become inspired. No idea arrives fully formed.
5. Advance the plot. Every scene should contribute to the story, either by moving the plot forward or by deepening a character.
6. Write with purpose. Know why you are writing each scene. Every word should do at least one job: move the story, reveal character, or evoke feeling.
7. Structure matters. A well-built story needs a shape, so know your narrative arc; structure is what gives the whole thing coherence.
   • Examples: Use the three-act structure (setup, confrontation, resolution), or the Hero's Journey for an adventure story. Consider starting in medias res, in the middle of the action, to hook readers immediately.
   • You do not need to nail down every plot point in advance. Leave some loose ends as you write and let the story surprise you. (For more, see how to outline a novel without killing discovery.)
8. Storytelling over events. Interesting events alone do not make a story captivating. What holds a reader is how you tell it: the tension, the pacing, the character development.
   • Example: A simple dinner scene can become unbearable if the people at the table want incompatible things.
9. Use subtext. Carry meaning beneath the surface of your dialogue and description, and let the reader feel what goes unsaid.
   • People rarely say exactly what they mean, least of all under pressure. Example: "He said, 'I'm happy for you,' but his eyes avoided hers."
10. Change perspectives. When a draft stalls, experiment: start again from a blank page, rename a character, or reimagine the setting. Push past the trivial toward something deeper, let the story go somewhere uncomfortable, or let a character make an unexpected choice that reveals who they really are.
11. Research your topics. Know your subject matter deeply. Authentic detail and convincing settings are built on real research, and readers can always tell when you know what you are writing about. It buys credibility.
12. Raise the stakes. Give the story a conflict that genuinely matters to the characters. They should have something significant to lose or to win, because that is what generates tension.
13. Use different types of conflict. Do not rely only on external conflict. Layer in internal conflict too: a character wrestling with self-doubt, guilt, or an impossible moral choice.
14. Keep dialogue purposeful. Every line should do something: advance the plot, build tension, or reveal character. Cut conversations that go nowhere.
15. Show, don't tell, through dialogue. Rather than explaining a character or setting in exposition, let the detail surface in speech.
    • Example: Instead of "John was afraid of the dark," try: "You're going in there?" John asked, his voice trembling. "Without a flashlight?"
16. Use action to break up dialogue. Slip small action beats between lines to add movement and reveal emotion.
    • Example: "I don't think this is going to work," Sarah said. She tapped her fingers against the table, not meeting his eyes. "You always say that," Mike replied, already glancing at the door.
17. Don't overuse dialogue tags; stick with "said." The word "said" is nearly invisible to readers and is almost always better than dramatic substitutes like "exclaimed" or "declared." Use "asked" for questions, and go easy on the fancier tags.
18. Let dialogue carry weight. Characters lie, mislead, insinuate, and talk around what they mean, and the way they do it should reveal who they are. A line of dialogue is the cherry on top of a scene: it should have a distinct flavour, not just relay information from one character to the next.
19. Character equals worldview. Every character sees the world through their own wants and wounds. Before anything else, ask what each of them actually wants. (Voice exercises can help you hear the difference between one character and the next.)
20. Build a cast, not a crowd. A cast of characters works by contrast, so emphasise each one's defining traits and let them push against each other instead of blurring together.
21. Don't bend a character's traits to fit the plot. A smart character should not suddenly act foolishly just to let the plot happen, and a cruel one should not turn kind for the sake of a convenient turn. If a character changes, give them an emotional reason for it. Stay consistent.
22. Let jokes come from character. Humour should express who is telling it. A joke that anyone could make is a joke that belongs to no one.
23. Expect the first draft to feel terrible. It will rarely match the floaty, perfect version you imagined while thinking about the scene, and that gap is normal. Rewriting toward a deadline is what lifts that rough first pass toward what you meant. So sit down and write.
24. Use action instead of tags. You can often replace a tag with a gesture, which makes the moment more physical.
    • Example: Instead of "I can't believe you did that," she shouted, try: "I can't believe you did that." She slammed her hand against the wall.
25. Cut unnecessary dialogue.
    • Avoid small talk. Trim greetings and routine exchanges unless they carry subtext or tension.
    • Start and end with impact. Enter a conversation late, in the middle of the exchange, and leave as soon as the important thing has been said.
26. Don't overuse dialect or accents. Suggest an accent rather than spelling it out phonetically, which quickly tires a reader. Convey it through word choice, syntax, and the occasional dropped letter instead.

Style and Expression

27. Write with emotion. Reach for the genuine feeling and avoid ornate language that gets in its way.
    • Example: Instead of "She was extraordinarily disconcerted," write "She couldn't stop shaking, her mind clouded with fear."
28. Simple over complex. Beautiful words are overrated when they muddy the message. Avoid vocabulary that shows off at the expense of clarity.
29. Be clear, not obscure. Obscurity loses readers. Do not settle for the trivial either; aim for language that is both accessible and meaningful.
30. There are infinite ways to say it. Any idea can be expressed a different and equally beautiful way, so stay flexible.
    • Example: You can write "the sun set," or "the sky blushed as the sun slipped past the horizon," depending on the narrator's mood. Never cling to a single precious sentence, because another just as good can always be found. If you cannot build on a line, it is usually the story telling you it will not go that way.

Connection with Readers

31. Avoid moralizing. Do not preach or hand the reader your opinions directly. Let them draw their own conclusions from the story.
32. Establish authority. Earn the reader's trust through the narrative voice. Lean on "head authority" for intellectual command, or "heart authority" for deep emotional truth.
    • Example: A detective novel might rely on a well-informed protagonist for head authority, while a memoir draws on heart authority to connect.

Editing and Refinement

33. Read aloud. Reading your work out loud exposes awkward phrasing, repeated words, and broken rhythm. It is one of the most effective self-editing tools there is.
34. Get feedback. Share drafts with trusted readers or a writing group. Others catch both the flaws and the strengths you have gone blind to.
35. Write for yourself. Write the book you would most love to read. If it genuinely excites you, chances are it will excite your readers too.