SecondCircle
Sin Cara
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2012
- Posts
- 1,410
"You have all these rules, and you think they'll save you...."
This... isn't meant as any sort of mandate on how writing should or shouldn't be or be done. Quite the contrary actually. The views expressed are observations by this poster, no more. Nothing is meant as "absolute" or necessarily literal. There's no actual inquiry here, just a bit of a musing, a pondering I guess.
Along our path of writing, as we develope and learn, there seems like there's this unattainable golden idol we claw for. That question about "how to write" or write well. And I'm sure most can agree that there's no single answer, nor a particularly easy answer that can blanket everyone. Writing usually stems from innate talent and passion for the craft, and no two writers are really identical. Everyone has their own methods, their own style, approach, and literary flavor.
Here enter the "Rules of Writing". Chances are, we've heard this stuff a billion times over. These are those snippets of advice, those approaches handed down. Sometimes they come in the form of those "how to" books. Other examples pop up time and again. They are too many to list, but several come to mind.
Stephen King has his little "Kill Your Darlings" advice. There's the timeless "Show don't Tell" thingy that works well nowadays. There's the Dialog tag debate, with countless offerings of how it "should" be done. Some may tell you that Dialog itself doesn't tell the whole tale, that it cannot convey a story in its entirety as well as exposition and vice verca.
Even grammar and punctuation isn't entirely safe. Not have tryin ta; say dat you kin, like, write' like this n stuff and its OK and will make it out their in righting world. That's not what I'm saying, but some exceptions exist where the unorthodox is accepted in the given story.
Many "rules" (not literal) bleed into Lit. We see them as forum topics from time to time, and the questions are very valid, and the discussions that come forward as a result can be very productive and insightful. We even have several "rules" that seem to fit at Lit. Keep away from measurements and cup sizes. Don't describe characters in detail, let readers use more imagination. Only include what drives the story or is relevant to the story (which is quite an obscure bit subject to opinion). Short reads are better. Long reads are better.
Well, you get the point. There's a lot of "this way" and "that way". Some of it is just differing opinions and what works best for each person. Other times it seems like a majority supports one "rule" as a way that works.
And yet, most will constantly arrive and the usual conclusion, the one I always arrive at. In the words of Barbossa "they're more like guidelines than actual rules."
I don't think anything is really absolute when it comes to the craft.
I've seen almost everything go both ways. What works for me? Not interpreting everything so literally. Afterall these "rules" aren't really rules are they? Moderation and personal judgement are what I use. I know others do too. I take any advice or observation of what can work, and I keep it as a tool for consideration. In other words, I just learn as I go and do what makes sense for me and my writing.
Show don't tell? Yeah... but not always, not completely. People throughout time have done that in reverse and produced great stories. Cup sizes or not? Either way can work. Kill your darlings? It can have a great effect, but it's not a commandment. Write what you know? Yes and No.
... I guess where I'm going is where I always tend to end up. Listen to all opinions and advice, and take the good with the bad. Use what works for You. Experiment. Read that "How to" book if you like, but know it's not a holy book. Never strictly adhere to one side of something all the time. There is no one way to write well. There's billions. There is no mandate. There are no "rules" (that's a rule I just made up). There is an audience for everything. Write because you love it, write the way you would want to read it, and write because you enjoy sharing the tale. Consider all, but use what makes the best sense for you. Don't get caught up in the "Rules of Writing". Make your own. Make them work.
Before long, you'll realize all you needed to swim was an ocean. You'll be on your own path not following another's.
<rambling delusions end>
(The above views are not in any sense official. They are still being tested on primate subjects in government facilities and have not been approved for public consumption. Please consider all content to be of figurative construction and taken into the lowest spectrum of good sense.)
This... isn't meant as any sort of mandate on how writing should or shouldn't be or be done. Quite the contrary actually. The views expressed are observations by this poster, no more. Nothing is meant as "absolute" or necessarily literal. There's no actual inquiry here, just a bit of a musing, a pondering I guess.
Along our path of writing, as we develope and learn, there seems like there's this unattainable golden idol we claw for. That question about "how to write" or write well. And I'm sure most can agree that there's no single answer, nor a particularly easy answer that can blanket everyone. Writing usually stems from innate talent and passion for the craft, and no two writers are really identical. Everyone has their own methods, their own style, approach, and literary flavor.
Here enter the "Rules of Writing". Chances are, we've heard this stuff a billion times over. These are those snippets of advice, those approaches handed down. Sometimes they come in the form of those "how to" books. Other examples pop up time and again. They are too many to list, but several come to mind.
Stephen King has his little "Kill Your Darlings" advice. There's the timeless "Show don't Tell" thingy that works well nowadays. There's the Dialog tag debate, with countless offerings of how it "should" be done. Some may tell you that Dialog itself doesn't tell the whole tale, that it cannot convey a story in its entirety as well as exposition and vice verca.
Even grammar and punctuation isn't entirely safe. Not have tryin ta; say dat you kin, like, write' like this n stuff and its OK and will make it out their in righting world. That's not what I'm saying, but some exceptions exist where the unorthodox is accepted in the given story.
Many "rules" (not literal) bleed into Lit. We see them as forum topics from time to time, and the questions are very valid, and the discussions that come forward as a result can be very productive and insightful. We even have several "rules" that seem to fit at Lit. Keep away from measurements and cup sizes. Don't describe characters in detail, let readers use more imagination. Only include what drives the story or is relevant to the story (which is quite an obscure bit subject to opinion). Short reads are better. Long reads are better.
Well, you get the point. There's a lot of "this way" and "that way". Some of it is just differing opinions and what works best for each person. Other times it seems like a majority supports one "rule" as a way that works.
And yet, most will constantly arrive and the usual conclusion, the one I always arrive at. In the words of Barbossa "they're more like guidelines than actual rules."
I don't think anything is really absolute when it comes to the craft.
I've seen almost everything go both ways. What works for me? Not interpreting everything so literally. Afterall these "rules" aren't really rules are they? Moderation and personal judgement are what I use. I know others do too. I take any advice or observation of what can work, and I keep it as a tool for consideration. In other words, I just learn as I go and do what makes sense for me and my writing.
Show don't tell? Yeah... but not always, not completely. People throughout time have done that in reverse and produced great stories. Cup sizes or not? Either way can work. Kill your darlings? It can have a great effect, but it's not a commandment. Write what you know? Yes and No.
... I guess where I'm going is where I always tend to end up. Listen to all opinions and advice, and take the good with the bad. Use what works for You. Experiment. Read that "How to" book if you like, but know it's not a holy book. Never strictly adhere to one side of something all the time. There is no one way to write well. There's billions. There is no mandate. There are no "rules" (that's a rule I just made up). There is an audience for everything. Write because you love it, write the way you would want to read it, and write because you enjoy sharing the tale. Consider all, but use what makes the best sense for you. Don't get caught up in the "Rules of Writing". Make your own. Make them work.
Before long, you'll realize all you needed to swim was an ocean. You'll be on your own path not following another's.
<rambling delusions end>
(The above views are not in any sense official. They are still being tested on primate subjects in government facilities and have not been approved for public consumption. Please consider all content to be of figurative construction and taken into the lowest spectrum of good sense.)
