Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different

by Chuck Palahniuk

So if you were my student I’d tell you, yes, someday you can go back to using “is” and “has” verbs, as well as abstract measurements and “thought” verbs. You can occasionally use passive voice and summaries. Eventually you can use the received text of clichés, if appropriate. But first I want you not to. For the next couple of years, at least, I want you to follow the rules of this book. By doing so you’ll be forced to invent new ways of telling a story. You’ll learn to stay within a scene and move your characters through their world in a physical way. Above all, you’ll grow beyond the easy “default” ways of writing that rob your work of its power. Writing is nothing if not problem solving. These rules that hobble you now