Geoff Dyer’s ten rules for writing fiction

I have never read anything by Dyer, but that may change because this is one of the best “Ten Rules” essays I’ve read.

2. Don’t write in public places. In the early 1990s I went to live in Paris. The usual writerly reasons: back then, if you were caught writing in a pub in England, you could get your head kicked in, whereas in Paris, dans les cafés … Since then I’ve developed an aversion to writing in public. I now think it should be done only in private, like any other lavatorial activity.

I also especially like 4, 6, 8, 9, 10…oh hell, it’s a good list. No. 6, Using regrets for fuel. Pretty much my motto: It’s all material.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.