As the pups refuse to pay attention and I can't vent elsewhere, I'll just blow up here for a moment.
- The Story Matters.
- The Rules Serve the Story.
The best writing is transparent. The reader flows in and out of your universe. You tickle their ears a time or two with lovely alliteration, set the scene with a place to call home, dazzle them with brain stomping dialogue, then blow them out of the water with your stinkin' storyline.
We learn the rules so our writing gets out of the way of telling a compelling, grab-you-by-the-hair tale of woe or passion or triumph. If you can't weave the elements of story together, all the rules in this or any other universe will not save your sorry backside from a life of self pleasuring your own laptop.
Who's cranky?
3 comments:
I love that photo.
Good post on rules-based issues, btw. I read it awhile ago and had visions of crit group notations on basics that we eventually decide to break away from.
Poor kitty-- he doesn't appreciate doggie grooming :)
It's easy to get tangled in rules and forget that excellent writing involves the intentional breaking thereof to convey story.
Couldn't agree more. "Rules" are a hindrance to creative thought. They should exist only as guidelines - techniques that have been proven to work consistently, but which need not be looked upon as commandments that can never be broken.
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