5 Writing Rules and When to Break them

There are an untold number of ‘rules’ that writers are told they must follow. No exceptions. Let’s look at the most common, and see if they may sometimes be broken. While pretty much any rule may be ignored at times, don’t forget that most of these rules exist for a reason.

Grammar and Spelling are non-negotiable

Listen, no one is more of a pedant than I am. Yes, I make mistakes in my writing, but I always try to correct them. Nothing irritates me more than seeing the word ‘literally’ being misused, or people saying, ‘drug’ when they mean dragged. Few pedants would deny that you should never use one-word sentences.

But.

There are times when writing more casually is preferable. I’ve recently been reading a series of books about a detective, a former policeman. He’s your average Joe type of character, and he is the primary narrator. Yet, despite being Mr Average in so many ways, his grammar is impeccable. I love good grammar, I do, but seeing Mr Average using words like ‘whom’ jars. It feels wrong because nothing about him suggests a reader or a grammar-fiend. Did I say fiend? I meant friend. Ahem.

Your word choices, grammar, and so forth should match the character. Read Dickens. You can always tell which character is talking in his novels by the way they express themselves.

I recently watched a video about the screenplay of 12 Angry Men. How 12 Angry Men Breaks Screenwriting Rules by Script Sleuth. This is an outstanding play / film, and if you haven’t seen it, I strongly encourage you to do so. Anyway, in the video, Script Sleuth points out that you can identify every character by his speech. It’s true, too. The differences aren’t huge, but the are pronounced enough that you can identify who is saying what, just by their speech. Take a bow, Reginald Rose, screenwriter.

Write every day

It’s a lovely ideal, and it’s one I try to follow, but here’s the thing, everybody has to take a day off sometimes. Kids get sick, you get sick, the kitchen floods, the in-laws show up unannounced, you have a huge project at work and have to put in 12-16 hour days until it’s done. Don’t beat yourself up. Take a day or two off. Just don’t make a habit of it. Try to get back in the flow as soon as you can.

Also, if you’re feeling burned out, it’s okay to take a short break. Nothing too excessive. A few days, a week at most, but you must be disciplined enough to get back to work as soon as you’re able. No excuses.

Write what you know

This one nearly crippled me when I was starting out. I knew very little, and I knew that I knew very little. What should I do? It took a lot of time, but eventually I realised that what this rule really means is write what you have thoroughly researched. Write what you feel in your heart to be true. After all, it’s not like Ray Bradbury had really been to Mars when he wrote his Martian Chronicles. Of course, if you do want to write science fiction, you have to know something about any scientific aspects of your story.

These days, thanks to the internet, there is little that cannot be researched from the comfort of your own chair. I don’t say researched well or accurately, but I’ll get to that. You can find experts online. Thanks to Google Maps, you can walk down streets in foreign countries. The web will enable you to read up on countless topics. But…

You can’t assume that everything you read is true. Wikipedia in particular is seriously flawed. You also can’t walk down the streets of, for instance, Victorian London. The city as it is today is vastly different from how it was in the 1800s. No matter how carefully you read about your chosen topic, nothing can match personal experience. Yes, you can virtually walk through Dublin’s Temple Bar, for instance, but you cannot access streets that are closed to traffic. You cannot hear the conversations of people passing by, or smell the alcohol or food wafting from pubs and restaurants.

What you can do, though, is talk to people who have been to or, better, live in the place where you want to set your story. No, it’s still not as good as actually being there, but it’s the next best thing, provided your source has a keep power of observation.

Where possible, though, you are better off basing your story on the things you do know. Your home town. Your family or neighbours. Then you can add the things you get from others Just double-check everything.

Avoid clichés like the plague

The problem with clichés is that they creep up on you. Your brain is on the alert for things like, “wouldn’t touch him with a bargepole”, or “sixes and sevens,” but it lets more modern phrases sneak by. The cutting edge. Pushing the envelope. It’s all as hackneyed as the inevitable French loaf in a shopping basket being carried by the heroine in a TV show.

That being said, a character with no original thoughts and no imagination is exactly the sort to live on a diet of clichés. Just try to make the use of them interesting. Maybe he muddles them and says things like, “A watched pot is worth two in the hand, I always say.”

I once had a boss who, whenever we reported a problem to her, would say, “I hear you.” The joke around the office was she always said this with her fingers in her ears.

A judicious use of clichés can infuse some humour into your writing, as long as you use it knowingly and deliberately. It’s when those silly sayings creep in unnoticed that you need to be careful. Fortunately, that’s one of the reasons rewrites were invented, to catch things like that.

Get feedback

There are few things more valuable to the writer than good feedback. On the other hand, bad feedback can destroy your confidence and motivation. Therefore, take care before you ask anyone to read your work.

Don’t get feedback for anything but your best work. If you let someone (other than your mother) read a first draft, you will almost certainly regret it. I did it once. I was so excited about the emerging story, I couldn’t wait to share it. However, the reaction was… well, I won’t call it savage, but I’m still bleeding. Serves me right.

By the same token, if you ask an adoring relative, or a paid critic for feedback, don’t be shocked when they offer little but adoring praise. Perhaps they’re right, but don’t expect a professional editor to be equally enchanted, unless you’re very, very talented. Or lucky.

If these musings are helpful, please let me know. Should I look at some more ‘rules’ and weigh in on their usefulness?

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://rycardus.wordpress.com/wp-con..." data-large-file="https://rycardus.wordpress.com/wp-con..." width="975" height="1300" src="https://rycardus.wordpress.com/wp-con..." alt="" class="wp-image-18207" srcset="https://rycardus.wordpress.com/wp-con... 975w, https://rycardus.wordpress.com/wp-con... 113w, https://rycardus.wordpress.com/wp-con... 225w, https://rycardus.wordpress.com/wp-con... 768w" sizes="(max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px" />Photo by Maram on Pexels.com