Some Rules for the Unruly

Many of us of the creative persuasion find ourselves getting caught up in the idea of rules.  When it comes to writing there are the rules of grammar and the rules of good composition.  But in the end, once these have been learned, there are no rules to speak of, only guidelines that steer you toward or away from ideas and delivery of narrative.  My personal test is this: does it say what you want it to say and does it do it in a way that is accessible to an audience?  The audience may interpret it much differently than you and that's just fine, but as long as they have something that they can feasibly interpret, something that meant something to you as the author, then you have yourself a success.  Maybe you followed some of the rules to get there or maybe you didn't.  Maybe you broke every single rule in the book.  All that really matters in the end is that you did it.  We take different roads to get to the same place, and writing is no different.

Amanda LaFantasie (Skoora) © 2013