the craft. writing rules or nah?

Writing advice is layered in that, there are no rules in writing and yet, there are rules in writing. I promise you didn’t read that wrong. Like there are literary devices in the English language that we all agree are appropriate. From comma use to verb and subject agreement and such. But in between the mechanics of the use of language there is a vast ocean of viewpoints, advice, and approaches. I’m here to remind you that even this weekly newsletter is full of suggestions, observations, and processes that may or may not work for you.

However, we don’t have to fear regulation, best practices, or structure. At times, as creatives we have these moments of raging against the machine. Only to realize that sometimes our rebellion only ends up making our work similar to others that are proactively working to go “against” the rules. Maybe there is nothing new under the sun no matter what side of the coin you’re on.

Here’s the example that I brought up recently in one of our writing chats: three act structure is a storytelling approach that many different stories follow regardless of medium. TV, Film, books, all have the basic elements of exposition, climax and resolution. And yet within that, we get a plethora of diverse and intriguing stories. Sometimes a little remixed or with different twists, but there are literally thousands of stories that can be told even in following the same structure.

We all want to “break out of boxes,” but I have an unpopular opinion that everything we do is based on understanding things within boxes. It’s literally how we’ve been taught to process most things, so completely abandoning that for the sake of perceived individuality can honestly be contrary just to be contrary. Some boxes help us digest things in a satisfying way, which is simply a reality we face.

This doesn’t mean that there won’t be those remix moments though, right? I absolutely believe in breaking rules, but I also believe it’s important to know the rules to break them. For instance, I’ve been having a real beef with the third act breakup in romances. But I understand why writers often use this device. Having a couple face multiple challenges to get together, only for them to have a colossal disagreement and break up in the third act, kind of irritates me because most often I know they’re going to get back together at that last moment. I literally watched two Christmas films in a row where the love interest said “tell me you don’t love me.” Only for the other person to say, “I don’t.” Knowing damn well they did and were going to end up together at the end of the film.

Overcoming this last hurrah right at the end of the story is ultra satisfying for readers or viewers. But it doesn’t mean every story has to end that way. However, it’s important to figure out what you can do differently that will still give them a heightened sense of tension and then resolve.

If it sounds like I’m contradicting myself, I am. Ha! I’m both saying that there are rules for a reason that aid us in telling intriguing and satisfying stories but that we can also stray away from those rules in strategic ways to keep your approach unique and exciting. At the end of the day, I always come back to the old adage, take what you need and spit out the bones. My purpose here is to say this, you don’t have to fear rules and structure. You don’t have to feel like it will suffocate your creativity. Because it’s much like those training leashes that are extremely long. It’s like you want to give a young dog that freedom to work on their callback but you also want to make sure they don’t have the ability to dart into traffic given they decide to lose their mind.