Although I felt no epiphanies after reading this article by Lisa Lutz in the WSJ (here) it did have one or two gems.
The first line echoes the title, Rule 1: Ignore Rules. The first line is "The first rule of writing is that there are no rules." Sounds a bit like fight club, "The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club," at least it doesn't get repetitive after that first rule as Fight Club does, "The second rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club."
Following this Miss Lutz takes apart my perennial New Year's Resolution. Each year I give myself a task to read one book on writing craft for each three or four novels I read. Actually this year the ratio is 1 to 5. Miss Lutz's response, "I have never read a book on writing, nor do I intend to. Though I have many writer friends who are strong proponents of studying their craft, I remain steadfastly against the how-to genre."
Her take down of my resolution notwithstanding, the article is short and worth a quick read through as she does provide some great advice, particularly about the importance of making your novel a page-turner and finding a distinct voice for dialogue. It was her last line though that stuck with me: "I suppose the biggest rule I've broken along the way is ignoring the strictures of genre. I write novels about private investigations that have no murder and barely any mystery. But every book I've written opens with an unanswered question. Readers are a curious lot; they want answers. Give them a really good question and they'll keep turning the page."
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