Nicole Bianchi

Writing, Copywriting, & Marketing Strategies

5 Rules for Writing Well: C. S. Lewis’s Letter to a Young Writer

Published | Last Updated By 50 Comments

Do you have any favorite authors whose work you rave about to anyone who will listen?

You’ve read all of their books and may have even tried to imitate their style. Wouldn’t you love it if you could converse with them and get their feedback on how you could improve your writing?

In 1956, C. S. Lewis did just that for a young fan.

The British author of the beloved Chronicles of Narnia series received countless letters from children all around the world. He was careful to respond to each one. A collection of some of these responses can be found in the slim volume Letters to Children.

Among them are several of his letters to Joan, a young girl who wrote to him from the United States. She sent her first letter to Lewis in 1954. They would end up exchanging over twenty letters.

In one letter, Lewis outlined for Joan his five rules for writing well. Though the letter is now sixty years old, Lewis’s rules are still relevant for writers today.

Read on to discover C. S. Lewis’s five rules and how we can use them to improve our own writing.

C. S. Lewis’s 5 Writing Rules

5 Rules for Writing Well: C. S. Lewis's Letter to a Young Writer

1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.

2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.

3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”

4. In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.”

5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

C. S. Lewis’s Rules in a Nutshell

5 Rules for Writing Well: C. S. Lewis's Letter to a Young Writer

All five of these rules share a common underlying principle: when you are writing, your first and foremost concern should be for your reader.

We do not write solely for ourselves but to share our writing with the world.

With that in mind, when you edit your writing, you should try to imagine yourself as your reader.

You, of course, know what was in your head when you wrote those lines, but how will someone interpret them who doesn’t know you?

Are your sentences clear and simple? Are any confusing? Could any have double meanings? Are you using so many long and obscure words that your writing sounds pretentious? Is it too difficult to read?

Lewis warns us not to weigh down our sentences with too many adjectives: show, don’t tell. Let your passion come through. Make your readers feel as if they are seeing with your eyes.

Write in a way that they can see the colors, taste the foods, feel the atmosphere of a room they have never stepped foot in before, and smell the rich and varied scents of the new worlds and experiences you share with them.

C. S. Lewis on What it Means to Be a Writer

5 Rules for Writing Well: C. S. Lewis's Letter to a Young Writer

Of course, that is all easier said than done. And Lewis understood this.

At the beginning of his letter to Joan, he critiqued a piece of her writing and observed,

You describe your Wonderful Night v. well. That is, you describe the place and the people and the night and the feeling of it all, very well — but not the thing itself — the setting but not the jewel. And no wonder! Wordsworth often does just the same. His Prelude (you’re bound to read it about 10 years hence. Don’t try it now, or you’ll only spoil it for later reading) is full of moments in which everything except the thing itself is described. If you become a writer you’ll be trying to describe the thing all your life: and lucky if, out of dozens of books, one or two sentences, just for a moment, come near to getting it across.

Essentially, Lewis is telling Joan that writing is not a craft we can master in a matter of hours or days. It takes years and years and perhaps can never be mastered at all.

But we can become better writers. We can improve day by day if we are willing to keep on practicing and putting in the hard work.

Writing is not something to be rushed through. It requires careful thought and reflection. It requires us to transpose the muddle of our thoughts onto paper and rearrange those thoughts in such a way that they can inspire our readers.

It can be a frustrating business. But, in the end, it is all worthwhile because we have the power to make the world a better place through our writing.

As C. S. Lewis is said to have once observed, “Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.”

The Takeaway

5 Rules for Writing Well: C. S. Lewis's Letter to a Young Writer

Not all of us are lucky enough to have the opportunity Joan did to pick the brains of a favorite author. If you’re like me, many of your favorite authors might be long dead, in which case you’d have to find a way to time travel like Gil Pender in Midnight in Paris.

And, of course, there’s always the possibility that a favorite author wouldn’t feel up to critiquing your work. In C. S. Lewis’s fascinating essay “On Three Ways of Writing for Children”, he made clear that he did not like giving advice on writing.

“I would rather learn about the art than set up to teach it,” he wrote.

After all, there is always more we can learn, always more time to spend practicing. As Ernest Hemingway once wryly observed, “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”

So let’s learn from the great authors who went before us, carefully studying their writing and always looking for ways that we can improve our own so that one day we can create something truly beautiful, something that will truly touch the hearts of our readers.

What do you think of C. S. Lewis’s five rules? Is there any rule you would add? If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment and share with someone you would like to inspire.

SaveSave

Comments

  1. I thoroughly enjoyed and understood what you and C. S. Lewis are saying. Those items, I don’t like to call them rules, will be clearly engrained into my ‘writing brain’. I am not familiar with C. S. Lewis’s writing and have been inspired to read some of his writing. I am in the process of writing a memoir in short story form–I was born and raised in the South, Alabama mostly. In my writing I have always attempted to define folklore, traditions, food, and so forth either by how it is woven into the story or in parenthesis. I feel the simplicity is a great asset in any writing. I read many genre and pay close attention to how a paragraph or word is used within the context—very helpful–soon it becomes a habit. Love your blog—very helpful. I would like your take on the writing/rewriting/rewriting/ My outline is usually a first draft, helter skelter type and not until third draft do I get down to the ‘creativity part of the story.” I realize this is easier done for a short story. Another element to better writing is to read, read, read. and write, write, write. The old adage, “Practice makes perfect.” still holds true. If interested you can go to tellyourtruetale.com/stories and read my story Finding Jerry. This is a Library sponsored and led by Sam Quinones Workshop. Thank you for this blog and I look forward to additional information.

    Reply

  2. Loved the whole article.
    From the above comments “See and Tell” hit the note. For me too.
    “Let your passion come through” and,
    “as though they are seeing with your eyes”
    I’ve lived most of my life in Cape Town and I know I take its beauty for granted. I also work and socialise in poorer communities and aware that this is not what tourists see it. However when i do take a visiting friend on an informal tour of the magnificent views and places, I know that I am seeing it through their eyes. That first time wonder.
    Thank you Nicole for this article.
    I also noticed the quote on the right side of the page. ( I think your advert) I don’t prescribe to any Religion, yet sometimes the Psalms can really hit the spot.
    Great Article
    Serena

    Reply

    • Thank you, Serena. Yes, I love when friends or relatives come to visit me, and I take them to my favorite places. It’s so fun to experience that ‘wonder’ again. And thank you! That’s one of my favorite verses. 🙂

      Reply

  4. Nicole, I came across you/your post through Pintrest. While I am a business writer and help other business people write and publish their book I thought your post and insights are terrific.It helps that I love C S Lewis and am an avid reader and love words. Thanks so much for the 5 rules I am about to share with my network.

    Reply

    • I used to do the same thing! 😀 Loved reading through the thesaurus too. Thanks for sharing the article! James Altucher always has such fantastic insights & tips for writing. I use the Flesch-Kincaid Score. It’s really helped me write more effectively.

      Reply

  6. I just love your blog, Nicole. It’s so full of useful information from amazing people like Lewis, and it’s great how you put it all together. I love his rules, specially the one about being clear and unambiguous in what you are writing. Also not to use big words, where simple ones are enough for the subject. I did read another rule on an IG account that I can’t now remember: Throw out all the rules before you write a bad sentence. ie: sometimes you have to go on feeling, or intuition. There are no rules for that.????

    Reply

    • I am so glad you enjoy my blog, Cynthia! 🙂 That makes me so happy.

      Lewis’s rules are full of wisdom. But I love the one you added! It’s so true. Sometimes when we try to follow the rules too closely, it can hinder our creativity. I find this very true when I’m writing fiction.

      Thanks for your comment!

      Reply

  7. How did Joan correspond with Lewis for 20 years if her first letter was in 1954? Did you mean to type 2 instead of 20? Otherwise, great article. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi, Curtis! Thanks for your comment. I just double-checked the book “Letters to Children”. The first letter it has from Joan is dated 1954 and the editor writes, “This letter from C. S. Lewis to a young American girl was the first of twenty-eight letters written over nearly twenty years.” But you’re right — somehow these dates don’t add up, unless she started corresponding with him earlier. I am wondering if the book made a mistake and there were earlier letters? Thanks again for pointing that out; I have edited my article.

      Reply

  8. Loved this as usual. While reading it I was thinking precisely about Hemingway’s quote that you mentioned in the end. This served to remind me that I have to let my manuscript go. Easier said than done but this article gets me a little farther in that process. I believe the hardest part is letting go and wait. I started reading the Narnia series with my 10 year old and I will be talking to her about what you mentioned here because she wants to be a writer.

    Reply

    • Hi, Dolores! I always get so excited when I see you’ve left a comment. 🙂 I love reading your thoughts, and I’m so glad you found the article helpful. I really can’t wait to read your book!

      The Hemingway quote is one of my favorites. For me, I struggle with perfectionism and just getting started. The other day I was trying to write some fiction and just kept on rewriting the same paragraph over and over. I need to just write and not worry about editing until everything is down on paper.

      I love the Narnia series! I’ve read it several times. How wonderful that your daughter wants to be a writer. She might enjoy this book — Lewis’s letters are so charming.

      Thanks again for your comment! 🙂

      Reply

  9. Wow, I would have loved to have corresponded with such a great author as C.S. Lewis! It’s wonderful that he was willing to devote time to encourage Joan.

    It’s true that many of our favorite authors may not be around to teach us anymore. Thank you for sharing so many books that writers have written about the craft. It’s fascinating to read their tips.

    I love your blog!

    Reply

    • Hi, Lynne! Thank you so much for your kind comment! Yes, I love that Lewis took the time to respond to every letter he received. He truly valued each and every one of his readers.

      And, yes, even though many of our favorite authors may not be around to teach us anymore, it’s wonderful that many of them like Lewis have left behind some writing tips for us. Even though we can’t personally talk with them, we can learn a lot from rules likes these. So glad to hear you are enjoying the blog. 🙂 That’s always encouraging to hear!! 😀

      Reply

  10. Nicole, this is the first time I’ve read your blog, and I really enjoyed it. You’re a very thoughtful writer. I love C. S. Lewis, and I like his 5 recommendations to the young writer. I have caught myself in each of those mistakes and corrected them in the direction he suggests. Thanks for a wonderful writers’ post! I’ll be back.

    Reply

    • Thanks so much for your kind words, Kebba! 🙂 C. S. Lewis is such a wonderful writer. He can say something thought-provoking and profound in just a few well chosen words. So glad you enjoyed the post!

      Reply

  11. I’ve been meaning to visit your blog for a while–I’m so glad I found it! Love CS Lewis and this writing advice. I think what he’s saying in a nutshell is to simplify. Don’t try to sound smart, be smart! Great blog post!

    Reply

    • Hi, Jeana! So happy you enjoyed it. 😀 Yes, that’s exactly it. I love how you put it: “Don’t try to sound smart, be smart!” 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment!

      Reply

  12. Wow! This was truly a great read! I always ask myself, “How can I become a better writer?” This past year I have really indulged more in writing in a way I never have before and I have discovered the strength and power in words. How strong a statement can be when well put together. I couldn’t agree more with you when you say, “We do not write solely for ourselves but to share our writing with the world.” There’s nothing more satisfying then when my words touches someone else!

    Thanks so much for this post!
    Tiffany-
    http://Simplybeinggreat.net

    Reply

    • Hi, Tiffany! Thank you so much for your kind comment. 🙂 It is so true. When you find out your words have touched someone, it is so much more satisfying than any kind of wealth or fame. And it is also an incredible responsibility when your words become that powerful. All the best with your writing journey!

      Reply

  13. I loved Rule #4 where he stated, “You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.””

    What a concept! I had never thought of it that way. We never want to ebe a ‘lazy’ writer and shortcutting the process like this is exactly what will happen!

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    • Hi, Paul! Thanks for your comment!

      Yes, I love the way Lewis put it. It makes so much sense. When we don’t rely on adjectives but instead take the time to put our heart into our writing, it really does make a more authentic emotional connection with our readers.

      Reply

    • Midnight in Paris is a wonderful movie! Definitely one of my favorites. 🙂

      I can go overboard with adjectives if I’m not careful too. 🙂 I think it’s because I loved learning new words and using a thesaurus when I was younger. I need to make sure I simplify now. Thanks for your comment, Jeanine!

      Reply

  15. That is amazing advice. Imaging getting that letter out of the blue one day after school? So cool!

    Actually I was thinking about this last week. How amazing/weird/cool would it have been to walk into a pub in Oxford, order a pint of their finest mild and sit near the fire on a wintery afternoon. After a few moments you start getting drawn into a conversation between too bookish looking men. They’re talking about elfs, witches, magic and talking lions. You enjoy your pint and leave warmed by the fire.

    Years later you realise it was C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien discussin their latest work.

    Reply

    • Hi, Nick! Yes, Joan must have been thrilled. I think it’s so cool that she and Lewis became pen pals.

      And that would have been an incredible experience to overhear a conversation between Tolkien and Lewis! I would love to have been able to sit in on their literary club: the Inklings. There must have been so many fascinating discussions. 🙂

      Reply

  16. I really enjoyed this – thanks for sharing! The written word is so powerful and I’m always inspired by reading about writing! 🙂

    Reply

  17. I’m a writer by training and trade (20+ years experience) and I agree so much with everything here. I just wish non-writers also learned these tips! Thanks for sharing and inspiring.

    Reply

    • Hi, Becky! Thank you for your comment! It’s so true — these tips are useful for anyone, whether you’re a professional writer or not. So much of people’s lives today are lived online where we are constantly writing messages over email or social media. In truth, everyone is a writer and should learn how to communicate effectively. Thanks again!

      Reply

  18. Nicole,
    I have found such great encouragement as a writer from your blog. Thank you! C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors, so I was eager to read his thoughts. You did a great job of sharing them. Well done!

    Reply

    • Hi, Amy! Thank you so much for your kind message. It is so wonderful to know that my posts are encouraging you in your writing journey. 😀 Lewis is one of my favorite authors too. He was able to write across so many different genres, and his work is always so thought-provoking and profound. Do you have a favorite book by him?

      Thank you again! I am so glad you enjoyed the post!

      Reply

    • I am am so impatient too, Nadia! I was trying to write some fiction last night but kept on erasing everything and rewriting the same paragraph over and over. I wanted everything to be perfect on the first try. And of course that’s unrealistic. 😀 So tonight I’m going to challenge myself to write 500-1,000 words first and not edit anything until I fulfill that quota.

      Reply

  20. Thank you for posting. It comes down to sitting and doing, then make it better. So, I’m leaving this keyboard where I consume, and moving to the next room, where I create.

    Reply

    • Hi, Rob! Thanks so much for your comment! Yes, absolutely agree. We need to be intentional about practicing the craft. The only way we can become better writers is by writing.

      All the best with your writing projects! 🙂

      Reply

  22. I always remember my writing tutors say “show don’t tell”. It is so easy to become lazy in our writing or lack of writing in my case. thank you for an interesting post. C.S.Lewis one of my favourites . I look forward to be being inspired further. thank you

    Reply

    • Thanks so much for your comment, Helen! 🙂 Yes, “Show, don’t tell” is one of the most common writing rules. I love C. S. Lewis’s books too; he was definitely one of the best at being able to describe a scene in just a few well-chosen words.

      I’m so glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks again! And all the best with your writing endeavors! 😀

      Reply

  24. Show don’t tell is what I am working on. But it’s easy to just say what it is, right? However, showing is more rewarding to express than merely telling.

    Reply

    • So true, Jodi! Showing rather than telling does take more effort, but it really does transform a piece of writing and give us a more authentic emotional connection with our readers. Thanks for your comment! 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.