We writers, we have rules that we are told to follow and abide. Just like traffic, drinking and crime. Most people follow rules but some of us are rebels. Big question is: Is that a bad thing? The answer is beyond me. I have read many first time authors break the rules in their first books successfully and by rules I am talking of rules like first person present, too much adverbs etc. Keep in mind grammar can't be broken too much. As in you can't spell regular words wrong everywhere and you can't not know how to punctuate. So yes I am speaking of plot rules, character rules, and even basic length rules. So what rules do you rebel against and why?
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Writing Rebels
We writers, we have rules that we are told to follow and abide. Just like traffic, drinking and crime. Most people follow rules but some of us are rebels. Big question is: Is that a bad thing? The answer is beyond me. I have read many first time authors break the rules in their first books successfully and by rules I am talking of rules like first person present, too much adverbs etc. Keep in mind grammar can't be broken too much. As in you can't spell regular words wrong everywhere and you can't not know how to punctuate. So yes I am speaking of plot rules, character rules, and even basic length rules. So what rules do you rebel against and why?
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I was a serious rebel against modern writing. Still am but I've toned it down for the sakes of my betas and lack of editing time...I adore the heavy Victorian prose we associate with Dickens and the Brontes and it's hardly impossible to apply to the things we write about now. It's not just words puked in mass quantities on a page...there's an art to it that's fallen out of style, unfortunately, but I desperately wanted to bring that back into young adult writing. But I fear it's a lost crusade, with its merits in failing...
ReplyDeleteStill, though, it's a balance I'm still trying to strike.
I think its possible Alyson. I mean the victorian prose in YA. If you really love it then go for it! Personally I would combine it with a really original idea and maybe you will have a best seller up your sleeve :D
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