Make Words Tell Tales! - As sampled in the Milford SF Writers' blog - A nuts and bolts guide to crafting words into great sentences and creating great stories . A constant companion for the creative writer. For anyone wanting to hone their craft and keep it sharp , drawing 100+ useful rules of thumb from more than a decade of writers' workshops. You will discover: 100 rules of thumb to apply to your fiction - The motivation behind each rule - The pros and cons of keeping—or breaking—the rules - Numerous examples of rule-keeping and rule-breaking - How every rule helps keep the reader reading CONTENTS: Section 1. How to Choose the Words You Use Rule 1 : Anchor the Reader in Your World Choose the specific word over the general Rule 2 : Make the Reader Feel Your World Choose the sensory word over the evaluative Rule 3 : Tie the Reader to Your Specific Vision Find the right word, exactly ... Rule 12 : You Had to Be There, Buddy Showing and telling with words Section 2: What’s in a Sentence? Rule 13 : Write for Magnetic Reading Flow—conceptual Rule 14 : Write in a Billiard Ball World Flow—cause and effect Rule 15: Write with Your Mouth Open Flow—sounds ... Rule 24 : I Told You I Done the Deed Showing and telling at sentence level Section 3: Gluing Sentences Together Rule 25 : Rhyme Means Blues Avoid rhyme and repetition Rule 26 : Upstaging Dedicate each paragraph to a single character’s actions ... Rule 38 : Quoting Chapter and Verse Showing and telling with dialogue Section 4: Most Beginning Writers Never Guessed Rule 39 : Stick a Pin in the Map Time and place Rule 40 : What’s the Point? Character, goal, obstacle, and jeopardy Rule 41 : A Riddle, Wrapped in a Mystery, Inside an Enigma Contrived drama and information-hiding ... Rule 57 : How to Decide What to Write Showing and telling—when and what to dramatize Section 5: The Gossip That Got Us All Started Rule 58 : Getting Character from Plot Develop a character to fit the action Rule 59 : Getting Plot from Character Develop a plot based on a character’s traits ... Rule 71 : The Superpower The main character must excel at something Section 6: Telling Tales Rule 72 : I Laughed So Much It Made Me Cry A story must take the reader on an emotional journey Rule 73: Whose Story Is It to Tell? An author, a narrator, and a point of view might best be silent ... Rule 87 : Swearing on a Stack of Your Books Keep your promises Section 7: Just Between You and Me, My Friend Rule 88: The Dialogue Between You and Your Reader Write to genre Rule 89: Roll up! Roll up! Read All About It! Make sure it’s a story you’re telling ... Rule 101 : The End Is the End Validation Section 8: Extras: When Other People Get Involved Rule 102 : How to Triage Critiques, Feedback and Editorial Comment Know the effect you want in the reader Rule 103 : Strictly Obey Submission Guidelines Respect industry professionals ... Section 9: If There Is Only One Thing You Ever Do... Serious about your craft? Act now!