Bending and Breaking the Rules

One of the things I have told aspiring novelistsover the years is that they need to learn the rules of good writing, especially the rules of writing fiction. Not just learn the rulesbut understand the whys behind them. Once the rules are understood, then a novelistcan know when to bend them and even when to break them (on occasion).

If a writer breaks the rules because shedoesn’t know them or why they exist, it will= sloppy writing.

If a writer bends/breaks a rule intentionally for a creative p...