What are your favorite four rules for writing a novel?

I wouldn’t really say rules, but…

Don’t start with world building, history lessons, and boring.

Don’t start with a different character and then kill them.

Don’t introduce anyone until other characters require it.

Don’t woke for the sake of woke.

Too many authors start with boring, and this is the age of short attention spans and instant gratification.

I really hate it when the book starts with an interesting and likeable character who then dies or goes missing in order to bring in the main character.

There is no need to introduce anyone right at the beginning. Introductions are NOT for the reader. They are between characters, and they need to be realistic. So for example on the bridge of a space ship, we don’t need the captain’s name, rank and serial number until someone like a superior actually needs to use it. Nor do we need anything other than what the bridge crew normally call him or her.

Nothing makes me bounce out of a story faster than seeing ‘the Black’ in an introduction to a character, especially when it’s totally irrelevant in the whole book. The same happens with they/them when there is absolutely no reason for identity to be relevant to the story.

You include diverse characters and make them diverse only if that’s important to the story. Not for the sake of looking woke. There’s nothing worse than a character described as being one thing, and then the narrative has them obviously another. Such as non-binary, but they dress and act exactly like a woman or man does, and obviously is that gender. You either do it right because it’s an important part of the story, or you don’t do it at all. Half arsed attempts to conform just bounce me out. You get about 2 of those before I bin the book.

A general comment is if you’re enjoying the writing, people will enjoy the reading. So have fun with the writing, even if it’s a serious novel.