Mr. Anson's Rules for Writing

1. Be afraid—be very afraid.
2. Mr. Anson is always right (most of the time).
3. Mr. Anson does NOT do cute.
4. Don’t take Mr. Anson too seriously (unless he says so).
5. Read.
6. Reread.
7. Proofread.
8. Read it aloud.
9. Read it again.
10. Don’t feed the bear.
11. Rhyming is overrated.
12. Always carry a pen.
13. Write.
14. Rewrite.
15. Revise.
16. Try again.
17. One more time.
18. Don’t put the bear to sleep.
19. If the bear is hibernating, leave him alone.
20. Conflict is essential.
21. Never throw away your writing.
22. Don’t force the rhyme.
23. Balance.
24. Don’t poke the bear with a stick.
25. Don’t be afraid to work hard.
26. Don’t be afraid to play hard.
27. Learn all the rules.
28. Use the force
29. You have to know the rules before you are allowed to break them.
30. The rules are subject to revision, change, or complete overhaul whenever and however the bear feels.


This is based on a prompt I had my creative writing students do a few years ago. They had to come up with a personal set of rules for a particular situation or activity.