10 More Rules of Writing

This follows last week's post.

11. If your MC is sympathetic, don't make him sound unsympathetic in your book promotion. It's misleading.
12. Even if you have personally seen people put mustard on pretzels, don't assume your readers will believe that's a real thing.
13. Grammar is the servant of communication, not the other way around.
14. People use cliches when they talk. If your characters NEVER use cliches, how realistic is your dialogue?
15. If your intended audience doesn't already know what's wrong with the phrase "Jedi mind meld", don't make them feel stupid for not knowing.
16. The YA market is hideously overpopulated. So is every other market except Westerns. Don't let that stop you.
17. If it's funny to you, it will be funny to 5% of your potential readership. That's good enough.
18. Rather than bitch and moan about Microsoft Word, either learn how to use it properly or learn how to use an alternative.
19. Nuggets of writing advice on the Internet don't mean much from an objective standpoint, since they often contradict each other. However, from an objective standpoint, green eyes are just as attractive as brown, blue, gray or black. That doesn't mean your heart doesn't race at one vs. another.
20. Thinking about what you read and how it relates to other things you've read will ALWAYS pay off when it comes to writing.

===== Feel free to comment on this or any other post.