I like my posts to apply to writers but also be helpful to other creative types (and I think we’re all a bit creative).

So let’s see if I can tweak these Twelve Golden Rules to be helpful to all.

1. Before you set off on your yellow brick project road, have a plan or at least a goal. Even Dorothy had a goal. If you don’t have a goal, how will you know when you’ve arrived?

2. Get to know your theme. Every creative needs a theme or a statement that they want to make. Heck, every person should have a theme for their life. What’s the saying: if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. Make a statement.

3. Make sure you have a kick-a$$ first line or hook to catch the eye of your reader or art-gallery visitor, which then entices them to do a deeper dive. It’s a promise you make to the audience. It’s not just writers or artists who need a hook. Home decorators suggest having at least one thing that entices visitors and gives them a sense of who lives there. Auto mechanics, too, need a hook. And restaurants. And amusement parks.

4. Deliver on your promise. That great hook? That’s your promise. Don’t promise a nitty gritty story and give the reader fancy prose. If you put up one of those huge WELCOME signs at your front door, you’re going to get visitors. Make sure you’re ready to follow up on your promise.

5. You can’t always write what you know. But you can always write what you feel. People will always remember how you made them feel. Fine artists are great at making people feel something. Good writers make readers feel something, too. People living with Alzheimer’s might not remember what you’ve told them, but they’ll remember how you made them feel. (I know this from experience.)

6. If you don’t know something, go experience it. Or look it up! The world is literally at your fingertips if you have access to the internet or a library with a good librarian.

7. If you write/paint/live in hopes of getting the approval of others, you’re in for a world of hurt. Do things for yourself. If someone likes what you do, bonus points.

8. That being said, there are ways to tweak your stories to appeal to an audience. But don’t sell your soul to the devil.

9. Don’t be afraid to go bold. Big stakes for your main character. Big colors or big subjects for your artwork. Or for your home. You can go big on quietude, too. If you have a quiet character, go all in. But make the stakes big! Make the quiet character the worst possible person to be put into some big set of problems. Readers don’t typically enjoy reading about milquetoasts—unless those milquetoasts are fighting for their life.

10. Keep it short! Books are getting shorter, especially middle grade. Keep chapters short. Keep overall length short. IRL, don’t talk someone’s ear off. Brevity!

11. Learn the tricks of your trade so you can throw them away. You can’t bend a rule that you didn’t know existed.

12. And finally, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Author Toni Morrison said, “Write the book you want to read.” Paint the picture you want to see. Create the garden you want to wander in.

13. (Bonus rule.) Do unto yourself as you wish: Create the life you want to live.

Have a lovely Independence Day.

Until next time,

~ Gail

Countdown: 27 weeks left of 2024

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