I think there’s a time and a place for rules, even in writing.
During the warmer months this year, I assiduously followed the energy-saving guideline to avoid doing laundry between 2 PM and 8 PM, the hottest time of the day. The reasoning is that it warms up the house, when the A/C is already working harder to cool off the house.
But, um, it’s not warm anymore. (We’re finally rid of the ~6″ of snow we got just before Thanksgiving.) My air conditioner isn’t running. And yet I can’t shake off the idea that if I haven’t finished my laundry by 2, it’s too late for the day.
I think writing rules can be like that. There’s a time and place for almost all writing rules. We’re told ONLY to use said because reading “exclaimed,” “shouted,” “sulked,” “screamed,” etc., on every line distracts from the narrative. We’re told NEVER to use adverbs because “walking slowly” or “running quickly” are flat and redundant.
But at some point, it’s winter. An occasional “whispered” isn’t the end of the world!
The rules can help us avoid bad writing, but if we don’t understand why the rules are there, we may let the rules keep us from telling a story. Slavishly following the rules (holy cow, an adverb!) doesn’t guarantee good writing—or publication.
Or, to quote Jane Austen:
Better be without sense than misapply it as you do.
—Emma
Meanwhile, I have some laundry waiting.
What do you think? How do you find yourself misapplying rules?
Photo by Steve Grosbois
Great post! I think you are on the mark about knowing the rules before you can break them. And I love the question “why?” I ask it all the time and search for answers. I’m a visual learner and examples help.
Adhering to rules doesn’t ensure a well written story any more than breaking them condemns a story to failure. I recently attended a workshop led by Cameron McClure (Maass Agency) on rules in writing. The gist of it was that we need to know what the rules are and then have a good reason for choosing to break them. That makes a lot of sense to me.
Amen, Jordan. Avoiding excessive adverbs doesn’t mean NEVER using an adverb–adverbs can be used very well. Same with dialog tags other than “said,” and so on. Guidelines are meant to help us write better–not constrict us.
Great post, Jordan. Rules are made to be broken, and writing is no exception. Sometimes, an overused word is the right one despite everybody else telling you not to use it. It’s interesting to read advice and take the criticism away to your own work, but like Stephanie says, they aren’t there to restrict – only to guide.
I like to flout George Orwell’s rule ‘never use a longer word when a shorter one will do’. It is far too general a rule to apply to writing; everything depends on the tone, audience and context of the text. I could say cried, or I could say exclaimed. If exclaimed fits, I won’t hesistate to write it. As long as it’s understandable in context, I see no problem with it.
Writing in a way that is seen as right and writing well are two different things. Personally, I aspire to writing well. Life is far too short to try and appease every single person, and I’m writing for me before I’m writing for an audience.
Only just realised I submitted the wrong URL for my blog. Sorry!
“A timely and nicely placed post since I’m carefully and woefully editing,” Jolene said.
Followed you here from Lisa’s interview over at Mormon Mommy Writers. I think ti’s a pretty fun things she’s started up!
Great post, Jordan. Rules are made to be broken, and writing is no exception. Sometimes, an overused word is the right one despite everybody else telling you not to use it. It’s interesting to read advice and take the criticism away to your own work, but like Stephanie says, they aren’t there to restrict – only to guide. I like to flout George Orwell’s rule ‘never use a longer word when a shorter one will do’. It is far too general a rule to apply to writing; everything depends on the tone, audience and context of the text. I could say cried, or I could say exclaimed. If exclaimed fits, I won’t hesistate to write it. As long as it’s understandable in context, I see no problem with it. Writing in a way that is seen as right and writing well are two different things. Personally, I aspire to writing well. Life is far too short to try and appease every single person, and I’m writing for me before I’m writing for an audience.
Have been missing you in the blogosphere, Jordan, even on your MamaBlog. Just wanted to wish you blessings in this New Year, and much writing success. 🙂
Oh, Carol, how kind of you to think of me! I have so many ideas and so little time. I’ll see if I can carve out a block of time to get back into the groove soon.
Blessings to you, too!
I think you are brilliant in this post! Seriously. I love it. Can’t say I’ve ever followed writing rules (besides the grammatical ones), but I can relate to following and breaking visual rules. If broken ignorantly, the result is amateurish. But broken purposefully with complete awareness of the nuances creates intrigue and sophisticated, thought-provoking visuals. Time and place, definitely.