Roddy Doyle’s Ten Rules for Writing Fiction

roddy doyleIf you’ve never read any Roddy Doyle, you’re in for a treat. From the exquisite Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha to the more famous Commitments from The Barrytown TrilogyRoddy has the ability to inhabit his characters so seamlessly that when I read The Woman Who Walked into Doors I was convinced the author was female. Then with Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha, I was instantly returned to childhood, finding myself hiding under the kitchen table and staring at the legs of grown-ups. Here I offer you his top ten tips for writing brilliant fiction.

1 Do not place a photograph of your ­favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.

2 Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph –

3 Until you get to Page 50. Then calm down, and start worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety – it’s the job.

4 Do give the work a name as quickly as possible. Own it, and see it. Dickens knew Bleak House was going to be called Bleak House before he started writing it. The rest must have been easy.

5 Do restrict your browsing to a few websites a day. Don’t go near the online bookies – unless it’s research.

6 Do keep a thesaurus, but in the shed at the back of the garden or behind the fridge, somewhere that demands travel or effort. Chances are the words that come into your head will do fine, eg “horse”, “ran”, “said”.

7 Do, occasionally, give in to temptation. Wash the kitchen floor, hang out the washing. It’s research.

8 Do change your mind. Good ideas are often murdered by better ones. I was working on a novel about a band called the Partitions. Then I decided to call them the Commitments.

9 Do not search amazon.co.uk for the book you haven’t written yet.

10 Do spend a few minutes a day working on the cover biog – “He divides his time between Kabul and Tierra del Fuego.” But then get back to work.

via Ten rules for writing fiction.

Share

Comments

  1. says

    I was excited to uncover this site. I want to to thank you for your time due to
    this wonderful read!! I definitely really liked every bit
    of it and i also have you saved as a favorite to see new things on your web site.

  2. says

    Some excellent tips. Takes a writer to know us all so well 😉 Can’t say I’ve ever been tempted to put a photo of a favourite author on my desk, but the others all resonate!

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.