Rules-----Bleck!

I was on one of my writing sites--yalitchat, a great site by the way---and someone had a topic about Authors that break the rules. A topic I responded too and what I said I think is true, so I decided to paste it to my blog.

It's below!!



Below this!


Okay, below this!

Of course there are certain rules you do need to follow. Grammar, sentence structure and such. But those are the type of rules in everyday life. I am not talking about those type of rules.

On my first mss...I edited the heck (wanted to use another word here) trying to follow all the rules. You want to know what I ended up with. A dry novel. And I'm talking dry...like the Sahara Desert dry. I took out the spice...the interesting parts of scenery, characters, whatnot...all the parts that make a story. I edited out my voice.

So, I started to read books--adult and ya--(Well, I always read, but I mean really, really read) and studied them. How words were used, how sentences were structure, how many adverbs and adjectives were used, how they started, how they end, what the characters were doing (facial, movements, and such).

Every single book I read (everyone of them) broke these so called rules. I'm not sure where these rules stemmed from or who has the say in creating them, but I know for a fact --best selling authors and whatnot don't follow them.

Now here is the response where someone says---"Well, you're not J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer or Stephen King or whoever." And that is true, I'm not, nor will I ever experience the success they were lucky and/or talented enough to achieve. But here is my response--"At one time neither were they."

They all started somewhere...and my guess is that somewhere was as a nobody.

So, what did they have. I'll tell you what they have. They have--in most cases--a great story to tell with a great voice. One that piqued the readers interest and kept them turning the pages. And ultimately, that is what we should all want to achieve.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, write what you want ( a great story), how you want (your voice). And I can almost promise you the finished product will be a wonderful book.

Now as to whether or not it will be published....That is another story.