Hilary Mantel’s 10 Rules For Writing Fiction

Hilary Mantel’s 10 Rules For Writing Fiction

Writers Write is a comprehensive writing resource. In this post, we’ve shared English author, Hilary Mantel’s 10 rules for writing fiction.

Hilary Mantel (born 6 July 1952) is an award-winning English author whose work includes personal memoirs, short stories, and historical fiction.

The two-time winner of the Man Booker Prize for her best-selling novels, Wolf Hall, and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, was born 6 July 1952. Mantel was the first woman to receive the award twice, following in the footsteps of J. M. Coetzee, Peter Carey and J. G. Farrell.

The Royal Shakespeare Company adapted the two books for the stage to critical acclaim and a BBC/Masterpiece six-part adaption of the novels was broadcast in 2015.

The author of fourteen books, including A Place of Greater Safety, Beyond Black, and the memoir Giving Up the Ghost, Hilary Mantel is currently at work on the third instalment of the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy, The Mirror and the Light.

Hilary Mantel’s 10 Rules For Writing Fiction

  1. Are you serious about this? Then get an accountant.
  2. Read Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande. Then do what it says, including the tasks you think are impossible. You will particularly hate the advice to write first thing in the morning, but if you can manage it, it might well be the best thing you ever do for yourself. This book is about becoming a writer from the inside out. Many later advice manuals derive from it. You don’t ­really need any others, though if you want to boost your confidence, “how to” books seldom do any harm. You can kick-start a whole book with some little writing exercise.
  3. Write a book you’d like to read. If you wouldn’t read it, why would anybody else? Don’t write for a perceived audience or market. It may well have vanished by the time your book’s ready.
  4. If you have a good story idea, don’t assume it must form a prose narrative. It may work better as a play, a screenplay or a poem. Be flexible.
  5. Be aware that anything that appears before “Chapter One” may be skipped. Don’t put your vital clue there.
  6. First paragraphs can often be struck out. Are you performing a haka, or just shuffling your feet?
  7. Concentrate your narrative energy on the point of change. This is especially important for historical fiction. When your character is new to a place, or things alter around them, that’s the point to step back and fill in the details of their world. People don’t notice their everyday surroundings and daily routine, so when writers describe them it can sound as if they’re trying too hard to instruct the reader.
  8. Description must work for its place. It can’t be simply ornamental. It ­usually works best if it has a human element; it is more effective if it comes from an implied viewpoint, rather than from the eye of God. If description is coloured by the viewpoint of the character who is doing the noticing, it becomes, in effect, part of character definition and part of the action.
  9. If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to ­music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don’t just stick there scowling at the problem. But don’t make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people’s words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.
  10. Be ready for anything. Each new story has different demands and may throw up reasons to break these and all other rules. Except number one: you can’t give your soul to literature if you’re thinking about income tax.

This advice first appeared in The Guardian

Visit HilaryMantel.com

 by Amanda Patterson

If you enjoyed this, you will love:

  1. Joyce Carol Oates’ 7 Rules For Writing
  2. Geoff Dyer’s 10 Rules For Writing Fiction
  3. Dashiel Hammett’s 24 Rules For Detective Writers
  4. 10 Tips For Writers From Douglas Adams

TIP: If you want help writing a book, buy The Novel Writing Exercises Workbook.

Posted on: 6th July 2018
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