About the Rules of Writing
Rules are guides - not not laws
Rules of Writing
The first rule is that rules are guides. They are not laws, and you can’t be jailed if you break them.
There are many writing rules. Some are from well-respected authors, and others are accepted long-established rules that are widely followed and often seen as gospel.
I am not keen on rules, but I like to know them. For me and my writing style, awareness of the rule is more important than the rule itself. When I write, I don’t think about rules, spelling or grammar; I just write.
Thinking and improving what I wrote comes within the revision. That’s when I use my awareness of the rules to check if I have violated too many or if I have to add more character or location descriptions, maybe more showing than telling, and, in my case, particularly, cut out overused words.
I have written hundreds of articles without knowing the writing rules. Rules only came to my attention when I decided to shift from writing articles about counselling and natural health to making promises come true, which I had given myself decades ago, and writing a book or books.
When I decided to write a memoir about an exciting time span, roughly five years, of my former life, I started to search for writing tips, and with those tips came the discovery of writing rules.
Before all that, I had no idea about passive or active voice, show - don’t tell, or don’t use many adjectives and adverbs, use nouns and verbs – (Nouns and verbs show. Adjectives and adverbs tell.)
I bought my first book about writing, Stephen King On Writing, and I still like it. That book helped me a lot. It is more or less a memoir, which I wanted to write, and what better example could I have wished for? The second half of the book has sensible writing tips and rules. Needless to say, those tips were his personal likes and dislikes. Nevertheless, they made sense to me, and I keep those in mind.
I finally managed to write my memoir; people liked it, and it’s still selling years later. - It Happened in the Seventies -
That takes me back to rules, particularly the ones I have broken.
Rule 7: Never open a book with weather.
Guess what? My memoir starts with weather, not like the cliché: “It was a dark and stormy night” – no, and that is probably the difference. I believe, and that is my own rule, you can break any rule if it makes sense to your book. I didn’t mention the weather directly but indicated it was winter.
My memoir starts like this:
Christmas Day 1973 - Hamburg
It was cold and waking up was painful. I liked sleeping with my window open, the central heating turned off. My left leg was frozen, my knee resting on the carpet, but there was a reward - fresh, crisp air.
Here are some more rules and how I like to break them:
Show - don’t tell, sometimes called the golden rule.
Yes, that’s an excellent rule for good writing, but not good if it is overdone, at least in my opinion. I have seen many books, probably mainly from new writers, who followed that rule as it was a law. And often, a page-long description to show people that “Bruce was tired” is used. What I am saying is that showing can be overdone. My writing style accommodates showing and telling where it makes sense, which means “Makes sense to me.” I probably should write for a target market to sell more books and make money. But I also have to please myself; I must like what I write because that’s why I write. I know I can’t please an audience, “You can’t please all of the people all the time.” Have I just broken a rule, “Don’t use clichés – or “Don’t use quotes”?Don’t use passive voice. Always use the active voice. That’s another one I can’t stick to. If it fits into my writing, I frequently use passive voice; it’s often quicker and flows more freely. However, that’s one rule I am very well aware of, and I use it if I can.
Don’t use many adjectives and adverbs; use nouns and verbs. – Good rule, but again, I like to use them; after all, that’s why we have them.
Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”. That’s probably a wise rule, but I often use “answered” or something similar if it fits. Most of the time, I try to make it obvious who talks.
Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.” – I wouldn’t start a sentence with it, but on occasion, if it fits the context, I use it. I never used: “All hell broke loose”.
Avoid clichés like the plague. I wouldn’t go that far, and I have used clichés, mainly to make an obvious point, similar to metaphors, which I like.
Never open a book with the weather. – Maybe it is time to say: “Never say Never.”
Avoid alliteration – I usually do that, but I have also purposely added one. It always depends on the effect you try to achieve.
One should never generalise unless one wants to. But this one holds true for me: I don’t like generalisations; I know that people often generalise, which means they can’t find a specific solution to their issue. I have a saying: “There are no solutions for generalisations”.
Be more or less specific. – Yes, I can live with that, but by breaking many other rules, I also broke that one.
Do not start a sentence with “And” or “But.” That seems to be an old rule; it sounds outdated. “And” or “But” may sound less stuffy than an alternative. I like starting with “And” or “But.”.. not too often of course.
You have to introduce your character. – Sure, if you like, but remember, your character will likely change. I like letting them introduce themselves by solving problems.
Learn the rules … then break them. ... yep.
The best rule to adhere to is: “Write”; everything else will follow.
What are the rules you like to break?
From Brainland News - Cheers, Dieter Luske - www.dieterluske.com
Additional Info: useNature.com - Creative Lifestyle News Portal
Art - Books - Poetry - Mind Matters - Natural Health