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Tell Your Story: Neil Gaiman’s 11 Rules for Writing

You gotta love a guy whose writing advice is “write.”

Tell Your Story: Neil Gaiman’s 11 Rules for Writing

August 03, 2021

From Coraline and Good Omens to American Gods and Sandman, Neil Gaiman is one of our finest fantasy writers. Here are eleven writing rules from the rockstar novelist.

11

WRITE. Sure, Neil, easy for you to say. But sitting down and actually doing it is one of the biggest hurdles. CRACKED.COM — Brainpickings

10

PUT ONE WORD AFTER ANOTHER Find the right word, says Gaiman. Put it down. The tricky part of course, is finding the right word. CRACKED.COM — Brainpickings

9

FINISH WHAT YOU'RE WRITING Whatever you have to do to get the sucker done, do it. If that means chaining yourself to your desk, then get a padlock. CRACKED.COM — Brainpickings

8

PUT IT ASIDE After a bit, Gaiman suggests, pretend you've never read it before and take a look. While you're at it, get thoughts from like-minded friends. CRACKED.COM — Brainpickings

7

KNOW WHICH OPINIONS MATTER Gaiman's rule of thumb: When people say something's wrong, they're almost always right. When they tell you how to fix it, they're almost always wrong. CRACKED.COM — Brainpickings

6

FIX IT But that doesn't mean obsessing over your words. Remember, says Gaiman, before you ever get to perfect, you're going to have to move on to your next thing. Keep on keeping on. CRACKED.COM — Brainpickings

5

DON'T SWEAT THE FIRST DRAFT No one will ever see it. No one cares. And neither should you. CRACKED.COM — Grammarly

4

LAUGH AT YOUR OWN JOKES Writing is hard work. So why not have some fun while we're here? CRACKED.COM — Brainpickings

3

WRITE WITH CONFIDENCE Gaiman's main rule: If you do it with enough assurance, you can do whatever you like. (Feel free to apply this to pretty much anything.) CRACKED.COM — Brainpickings

2

DON'T WAIT TO BE INSPIRED Deadlines don't care if the perfect idea has found you or not. While you're waiting, might as well get some writing done. CRACKED.COM — Grammarly

1

TELL YOUR STORY There will always be writers better than you. Sorry, pal. But you are the only writer who is you. What story can only you tell? CRACKED.COM — Grammarly

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