5 Writing Rules You Should Totally Break
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- čas přidán 5. 07. 2024
- We’ve all heard the same creative writing rules discussed endlessly in writing courses and author circles. But rules are made to be broken, especially when it comes to creative expression. In this video, I go over five of the most common writing “rules” that could be limiting your creativity - and why you should totally consider breaking them.
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MORE WRITING ADVICE:
You’re Thinking About Exposition All Wrong: • You’re Thinking About ...
The ONLY Way to Plot a Novel: • The ONLY Way to Plot a...
Terrible Writing Advice You Should Ignore: • Terrible Writing Advic...
5 WRITING RULES YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BREAKING:
01:44 - Show, don’t tell
04:17 - Write every day
06:13 - Focus on improving your prose
07:54 - Stick to one genre
09:32 - Map out your plot
ABOUT ME:
My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with nearly a decade of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey-whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.
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“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” -Picasso, apparently.
Great quote! Thanks for commenting!
Before getting an agent and a book deal, I wrote books in many genres: Adult paranormal romance, YA mystery, adult historical romance, adult sci-fi, and YA thriller!
My agent was willing to represent any of the genres I was interested in. I definitely think writing so many different genres helped me hone my skills.
I simply ❤ your tips. Thank you!
Plus, writing in different genres keeps the fun in writing. Even if you're mainly into romance, there's nothing wrong with getting that zombie novel out of your system, or that heist story. It can rejuvenate your passion for writing and give you new insights on character and plot development.
I'm from Nigeria. and I wanted to write since i was kid. Now I'm forty and I still to. my own problem was I know the society I'm in would not appreciate my genre but I'm still trying. and getting your own product out globally is difficult especially from where I am. I just want to thank you that what I learned from you in a very short time is more than what learned in the last 20 years. Thank you.
Thank you for answering the question about getting a publishing agent while writing in different genres.
I have always had a problem with show don't tel, iam a philosophical poet and i hve a problem with being too descriptive, i neither have the space nor the luxury.
So i agree with you totally.❤
Couldn't help but notice the ring on your left ring finger, congratulations.
Hello! I'm an aspiring published author, in fact right now I'm going over the last details of my first novel and I'm already starting to look for literary agents. I've been very nervous about it and your videos have helped me a lot to overcome those nerves. Thank you very much!
So glad you've found them helpful! Thanks for commenting and good luck with your agent search!
Thanks for all you’ve done and your positive attitude, Jyoti. Please help me get through this and meet me when you can.
I absolutely loved this!! Amazing advice. I see sooooo many writer bloggers/ writing advice people who make it a point to never break these things and while they can be helpful to a certain extent, breaking them can actually do your story justice. I definitely agree with the writing every day. I think practicing writing is helpful but it can be just as helpful to actually take a break and restore a little bit of motivation, just as you said, so it doesn't cause burn out.
I couldn't agree more! Thanks for commenting!
Great video, especially on show don't tell. Very helpful. Also, your dog using your pillow on the couch is so cute! 😍
I always thought the "Alyssa Matesic" pillow was to show your name in every video. But it's really for the dog.
The "cut the adverbs" rule almost had me not writing. I don't know why so many CZcamsrs repeat each other on this rule so much. I understand not overdoing it. But then again, you can overdo anything.
When I read sentences that had adverbs cut out for the sake of doing so, it loses something. I understand that the word may not add much, but when I read something, I have a flow in the voice I am reading in, and if the sentence is short because of a missing adverb, it feels like it just comes to a sudden halt, like slamming the breaks at high speed. It feels incomplete.
Like making a batch of mashed potatoes: You can make it without salt, but the salt adds flavor.
This was the worst rule ever made when it came to writing.
The writing every day "rule" has been negative for me. I end up stuck on the same thing over and over. When I step away for days, even weeks, I come back fresh and bang out a solution, which ends up being better than I was trying to write.
It's good to have friends who understand the craft as well. Whenever I have writer's block, I try to turn to people I know and ask, where can the story go from here? We brainstorm a bit and then select the best course of action. This has gotten me out of many tight spots.
Absolutely - having someone to give you external feedback and to bounce ideas off of makes a huge difference!
Bad "show don't tell" advice messed me up on my first story. Most off the time it's given without the context that it shouldn't be used all of the time.
I don't write every day. I try to spend as much time as possible writing, but I don't judge progress on daily word counts. I add up how many words I get each week to measure how well I'm doing. I record them in a journal, along with the context of what else happened that day.
I've never been into purple prose. Clarity and conciseness, however…
Genre blending… ALWAYS!!!!
It's important to understand what the expected moral of that genre is and any sacred genre rules (like never end a romance with a breakup) and have a genre hierarchy:
This book is predominantly for sci-fi reader.
The plot is crime. With a romance subplot.
And when people ask you what type of book it is, just tell them the primary one.😉
After trying to loosely plot my last two books, I've come to embrace that I should go back to pantsing.
If you search on CZcams for one of Dean Westly Smith's Writing Into the Dark talks, they're excellent.
Becca Syme's book: Dear Author, Are You Intuitive? delves into how intuitive people are sort of trained throughout life to discount what their intuition is screaming at them; and how sometimes being "stuck" (she avoids the term blocked) is your subconscious's way of saying, "Nope, there's a problem here."
I've been helped by meshing the advice from those two resources together.
To say that a given Writing Rule must ALWAYS be applied is like using the same tool for every task. My Dad was an auto mechanic, and he would NEVER use one tool ALWAYS.
I have gone through all these ideas...they are so true. My story took on a life of its own that was so much more exciting, fun, and creative. For plot I envision scenes first and write notes to review. Thanks again. It is good to know I am on track.😊
Thanks for this clip.
Usually, booktubers like to pretend their rules are the be all end all of story telling.
You started with the two rules I questioned the most.
Wonderful tips, Alyssa! I have done most of those, and I must say, sometimes breaking the rules is needed! Thank you.
Excellent advice! At the beginning of my writing journey I strictly adhered to these rules but ended up having to break some of them in order to continue writing so thank you so much for addressing this topic!
Thank you for this video! As a writer, I find it constricting to fill my head with all these
"Do's" and "Don'ts." It disrupts the creative flow. Writing is not an exact science. There are many ways to create art and literature.
Thanks for another awesome video. You really help settle the sticky questions.
Thx for video, all good advice.
I have broken all of these without even realizing they were rules lol
It sounds like you're saying "show" the subjective parts, but "tell" the (less important) objective parts. Does that sound about right?
Particularly appreciated the dog’s contribution in the background.
This is helpful...Thanks. I seem to break all of them especially final mapping rule. I'm having trouble with the amount of back story to include in the first several chapters of my current novel. Would love to hear your views on the inclusion of backstory during the drafting of a novel.
oh by the way, you need Show and Tell. You need both.
I got the book up to 200,000 words, which was insane, but then I stripped away everything that didn't work for the story. It's still 120,000 words, not in the sweet spot, but I can't cut it anymore, so it's long , but can I break this rule about acceptable length?
Acceptable lengths do vary a bit by genre.
If it's an epic fantasy, or multi POV space opera, you should be just at the outer edge of "acceptable."
If it's horror, cosy mystery, or thriller, you may have difficulty with Trad publishing.
Now that extra length could work to your advantage in the indie arena. Most indie profits comes from ebooks so, no one's paying for paper. If an ebook's in KDP Select (the exclusive Kindle Unlimited program) it pays a 70% royalty rate for sales and fractions of a cent for every page read. Kobo has a similar program, but it's non-exclusive and calculates it's subscription plan based on minutes read.
Cons of indie are:
-You need to learn marketing skills, like how to run paid ads or get organic growth on social media.
-You are solely responsible for the quality of the novel so need to make sure it's edited to a professional standard and has a genre appropriate cover.
-You won't have as big of a promotional push for launch, its more of a grow your platform slowly over time.
Great video.
The balance between showing and telling is like a painting. It has one main focal point, not many. So the high point of the scene must be shown and the less important bits can be told.
I love this analogy! Great way of thinking about it.
Hi Alyssa, wanted to thank you again for your incredibly helpful content! I tune in every single time you put one up and I am never disappointed:)
I wanted to ask a question concerning your 4th point in the video: my story is indeed hybrid, but I hesitate to use hybrid when describing the genre in my query. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it! Should I write a couple genres that stand out the most in my MS or should I write that the genre is a hybrid of several (and should I specify which ones)?
Thanks 🙏🏻
Grammar is something else begging to be broken!
I am happy to say I break all these rules on a weekly basis, even though I am definitely one stickler for the rules. I didn't realize I was such a hypocrite!
Thanks for sharing. We supposed to follow the rules, and yet the filming industry breaks them every day. Also...my stories are a ''Frankenstien' as like... there are 27 different genres mixed into them. Not at the same time mind, but like there is always at least 7 of them. Terrellium is quite a unique thing.
*Writing advice op-eds all over:* "Stick to one genre."
*Stephen King:* 'So there's this tower that holds together the multiverse and the tower is guarded by robots built by a future sci-fi corporation and also sharks and there's a Satan-fish at the top of the tower and also these three little bald medical-drama guys are Death...And anyway, the story follows this old-west-type gunslinger.'
As usual, when Alyssa came home, her faithful guard dog was sleeping on the couch.
Is it cool to write in first person, omnipotent and narration in one book ? Just wondering
I break all those rules.
reminds me of the atlas six. Wow pretty sentences but my god are they nonsensical.