The WRITING mailing list FAQ

10th May 2001

WARNING. This is very much work in progress - it's very very incomplete - and may never be finished, since the WRITING list administrators seem not to want a FAQ. I might fill it in and release it as an ``unofficial FAQ'' but would there really be any point?

1. Preliminaries
        1.1. What's this document?
        1.2. Who are you?
2. Technicalities
        2.1. Is it OK to occasionally split an infinitive?
        2.2. How about using a preposition to end a clause with?
        2.3. And can I start sentences with conjunctions?
        2.4. How should I punctuate around quote marks?
        2.5. How should I handle POV (point of view)?
        2.6. Why should I ``show don't tell''?
        2.7. Is it best to ``write what you know''?
        2.8. How can I write good dialogue?
        2.9. How can I write good dialect?
        2.10. Do I need a protagonist, antagonist, conflict, etc.?
        2.11. Why should I follow any of these rules?
        2.12. What other rules guarantee good writing?
        2.13. Alright then, are there any other helpful ideas?
        2.14. What other resources will help with technicalities?
3. Practicalities
        3.1. How can I become a writer?
        3.2. How can I find time to write?
        3.3. ``Where do you get your ideas?''
        3.4. How should I build my story's plot?
        3.5. How can break through writer's block?
        3.6. How can I copyright my work?
        3.7. How should I format submissions?
        3.8. How can I find a publisher?
        3.9. How can I find an agent?
4. Niceties [MAY NOT BE RELEVANT TO THE WRITING LIST]
        4.1. When should I submit my work for critique?
        4.2. How should I critique?
        4.3. How should I respond to critiques?
5. Luxuries
        5.1. What is literature?
        5.2. What is great writing?
        5.3. What is art?
6. Miscellaneous
        6.1. Where does this quote come from?

1. Preliminaries

1.1. What's this document?

``Revise and rewrite.''
- Strunk & White

It's a work-in-progress FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for the WRITING mailing list. You can find out more about this list at www.manistee.com/~lkraus/workshop/writing.html but briefly, it provides a forum for writers and would-be writers to discuss the craft and business of writing.

By addressing frequently asked questions, this document aims to reduce the need to rehash certain tired topics over and over again on the list, so that we can preserve our precious time and bandwidth for new issues.

1.2. Who are you?

``Whether I deserve it or not, I'm a big fan of my work.''
- Dave Slusher

My name is Mike Taylor, I'm in my mid-thirties, married with three young sons. I write computer programs for a living; and I write prose for fun, and maybe one day, profit. If you wish, you can find out more about me on my web site, www.miketaylor.org.uk

From a writing perspective, I'm no-one in particular. I've never had a novel, story or non-fiction piece published in a paying market, so there's no particular reason for you to pay any attention to my ``wisdom''. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that I know what I'm talking about :-)

If you want to find out for yourself whether I can write, you should check out my web site (address above).

For whatever difference it may make to anyone, I have been on the list on and off since 1992, so if I have no other qualifications, my longevity at least might give me a little credibility. So far as possible, I've tried to construct this FAQ so that it represents the emergent consensus of WRITING list members' opinions.

With those preliminaries out of the way, let's get straight into some nuts and bolts ...

2. Technicalities

2.1. Is it OK to occasionally split an infinitive?

``Many people want to think of English as a Latin tongue. I'd like to think of my car as a Porsche, too, but that doesn't help me very much in reality.''
- Moshe Koenig

You should feel free to split infinitives if the resulting writing feels right and reads well. The prohibition against splitting infinitives (that is, putting another word between the ``to'' and the verb stem, as in ``to boldly go'') derives from a false analogy with Latin. In that language, infinitive verbs such as ``to go'' are single words (e.g. ``vado'' means ``to go'') so it's literally impossible to split them. There was a school of thought which said that writers ought therefore to avoid splitting infinitives in English too; but really that doesn't seem a strong enough reason, does it?

There is one good reason for avoiding split infinitives, and that is simply that a lot of people don't like them. If you think that your work might be read and judged by people who, for whatever reason, dislike split infinitives, then the pragmatic course may be to avoid them even though you know better. Sometimes, this battle just isn't worth fighting.

2.2. How about using a preposition to end a clause with?

It is said that Churchill once made this marginal comment against a sentence that clumsily avoided a prepositional ending: ``This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.''
- Ernest Gowers, The Complete Plain Words

2.3. And can I start sentences with conjunctions?

``Never begin a sentence with `and,' `or,' or `but,' and never end it with `wildebeest''
- Hammill's Rules of Grammar

2.4. How should I punctuate around quote marks?

``As with most things in life, punctuation doesn't have to be perfect, just good enough to get by.''
- Terry Cox

2.5. How should I handle POV (point of view)?

2.6. Why should I ``show don't tell''?

2.7. Is it best to ``write what you know''?

``Maybe we should think of the `write what you know' rule the other way around, as `know what you write'.''
- Rheal Nadeau

2.8. How can I write good dialogue?

### avoid tags other than "said"; avoid "said" too; don't overdo interstitial actions.

2.9. How can I write good dialect?

2.10. Do I need a protagonist, antagonist, conflict, etc.?

``There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.''
- W. Somerset Maugham

2.11. Why should I follow any of these rules?

``If are a fascinating writer, then you follow a deeper set of rules which make the normal ones irrelevant. If not, then you need to follow the normal rules until you get fascinating.''
- Greg Gunther

2.12. What other rules guarantee good writing?

``Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous''
- the last of George Orwell's rules for good writing

2.13. Alright then, are there any other helpful ideas?

``The trick is not to be too easily pleased by one's own writing.''
- Rheal Nadeau

2.14. What other resources will help with technicalities?

``Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way.''
- E. L. Doctorow

3. Practicalities

3.1. How can I become a writer?

``My pet peeve are all the people who say `I want to be a writer', but they don't want to write.''
- Trish Rucker
There's only one way to be a writer - by writing. There is no other way. If you write, you're a writer. If you don't, then you're not, however much you want to be one.

3.2. How can I find time to write?

``I think the secret may be to take one's work seriously enough to claim time for it.''
- Candace Byerwood

3.3. ``Where do you get your ideas?''

``The answer tends to be at once ineffably mysterious and excruciatingly mundane.''
- Stephen Donaldson, afterword to The Real Story
### Douglas Adams quote

3.4. How should I build my story's plot?

Rheal Nadeau writes:
Some writers plot everything out in advance - to the point where writing the story becomes a question of filling in the blanks. Some writers start with a concept, and write to see where it takes them [...] The one constant I've found for successful writers is doing what they believe, what works for them. Trying to force your writing down the wrong path will just kill it, plain and simple.

3.5. How can break through writer's block?

``If the sparkle fades from your writing, keep writing till you figure out how to get it back.''
- Kristin Johnson

3.6. How can I copyright my work?

3.7. How should I format submissions?

``Artists would like to ignore the business side: to some extent you can, and to another extent you can't.''
- Alvin Sylvain

3.8. How can I find a publisher?

``If you really want to be a writer, develop calluses on your pride.''
- Adrian Bedford

3.9. How can I find an agent?

``Is writing art, or is it business? It's both. Be good at both.''
- Dale Keiger

4. Niceties [MAY NOT BE RELEVANT TO THE WRITING LIST]

4.1. When should I submit my work for critique?

4.2. How should I critique?

4.3. How should I respond to critiques?

5. Luxuries

5.1. What is literature?

``I'm not sure exactly what your question is, but that will not stop me from attempting to answer it.''
- Robert J. Stone

5.2. What is great writing?

``One generation's `amusing dreck' is the next generation's high literature. (`I think the anvil landing on the coyote's head symbolizes ...')''
- Bill Cameron

5.3. What is art?

``I don't think we should all necessarily strive to move the human spirit - sometimes, just getting the punctuation right is achievement enough.''
- Adrian Bedford

6. Miscellaneous

6.1. Where does this quote come from?

``When something can be read without effort, [it is because] great effort has gone into its writing.''
- Enrique Jardiel Poncela
Feedback to <mike@miketaylor.org.uk> is welcome!