This is a great article to scan over, especially if you are in the revision phase of your work. It lists ten big rules to consider when approaching a story.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE3DD103BF935A25754C0A9679C8B63
Some of these rules obviously bend and break at one time or another. Some writers don’t care about any of them, and do just fine. But for those of us on the learning curve, it likely won’t hurt to at least try and apply these and see if it doesn’t make the manuscript stronger. Then, once we’re rich and famous bestsellers, we can choose a few to forget about and go our own way…right?
My favorites:
5. Keep your exclamation points under control.
You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
And remember…don’t let any hooptedoodle get in the way of the story.
I see that smile.
I prefer my hooptedoodle on the rocks with a dash of amareto and sugar on the rim.
:O)
Shaken, not stirred?