There Are No Writing Rules

People love coming up with lists of writing rules, and they're very dictatorial about them. An author on X posted hers the other day, which included write every day, outline your chapters ("if you think you can skip this step, you aren't thinking clearly"), don't edit as you go, read the classics...and on an on. Ten rules in all.

I like X for my own personal, not business use, but somehow I found myself with a bunch of writers in my timeline. I didn't seek them out. It's bad enough that my author X account shows only other authors' posts, but I only visit it a couple of times a year, so it doesn't matter.

 

 (Best "Friends" line ever) 

 

I almost responded to the poster, then realized I didn't want to get involved. I, too, have a list:

1. Write an interesting story.

Writing shouldn't make us fearful. What fun is that? Don't people have fun writing anymore? If not, what's the point of doing it?

My unspoken rebuttal to that poster:

1. No, I don't write every day. I don't even write every other day.

2. I've never outlined in my life.

3. I constantly edit as I go.

4. Classics? Sure, I read them in high school. They were fine. But dost thou write like Shakespeare? Me thinks not.

Guess what—it still all worked out for me.

Know-it-all Stephen King scared me off from using adverbs for a time.

What the rule makers should stress is that these are rules that work for them. "Never start a story by talking about the weather." Why not? What if it's important? I haven't done that...yet...but not because I was afraid to. Readers aren't sitting with a scorecard in hand, ready to check off every infraction. 

I completely understand why a novice writer would want to know the rules. I did it backwards. I wrote my first complete novel, stepped back and realized it wasn't very good, then went looking for the rules. And of course, I found all the usual suspects. What helped me more than anything were examples. Show me why this way is bad and this way is better. Then I'll decide if I want to incorporate it into my writing. There was a guy whose blog I used to follow that did just that. He was enormously helpful, but then he decided to throw in politics, so alas, he's gone from my reading list. (You can probably find him by searching for writing advice. I don't even remember his name.)

The bottom line is, one size definitely does not fit all. If I were to try outlining, for example, a year could go by and I'd still be trying to think up a decent story progression to add to my outline. "Chapter 3—hmm, I wonder what should happen." Maybe by the end of Year Two I'd be ready to start writing. What works for me instead is to let the story unfold, and I know I hammer this point all the time, but if I knew what was going to happen, all the fun of writing would be gone. I like surprises.

So, you do you. That's what makes you unique as an author.

But please don't forget my rule: Write an interesting story.