Reasons Why You Should Break The Rules When It Comes To Your Story

There are rules absolutely everywhere on how to write your story. And how not to write your story.  And it makes sense that there are so many rules, I mean we ask for them. We go right to Google and  start asking questions because we  (for some odd reason) want to know  how everyone else thinks we should write our story.  

And they tell us.

Now, don't get me wrong. Rules are good. And  you should listen to those rules.

But then you  should break them.
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Writing a story isn't  about what everyone else is doing and what everyone else is saying  you  should do. Writing a story  isn't as simple as getting a guidebook handed to you and following it's every instruction. Writing a story involves so much more creativity, so much more  rule-breaking.

​I just finished reading the novel "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness.  And something I continued to notice throughout the book is that Patrick Ness didn't follow the rules.  His writing was unique, the way he separated scenes was different, the entire story itself didn't follow the rules.

Stories aren't made up of rules. They're made of us.

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You want to write a bestseller? You want to write something that's going to change the world  and catch the eye of millions? Well, what I've noticed and I'm sure you have too, is that it's the things that are different,  new, and quirky that make bestsellers, that go viral, that are the most popular.

Try something different. 

Find out what everyone is saying you should do. And then do the exact opposite. 

Your story is your story. 

Here are three examples of  writing rules  -- and why you should break these  specific ones.

The Rule:  "Never use any dialogue  tag other than said"

Why you should break it:  When I see books with no speech tag other than said, it actually annoys me. What about when the character is asking a  question? You can't just put "said" beside that because everyone says to. It doesn't even make any sense.  I do agree, that you shouldn't  try so hard to not use 'said' that you go using all sorts of crazy  tags.  Said is a good word. And it works just fine and does exactly what we need it to. But go ahead and switch it up every once in awhile. And if 'said' doesn't seem to work that well for what your character is saying, then don't use it.  


The Rule:  "Always write about what you know"

Why you should break it: When I saw this rule,  my mind was automatically  saying "NO.  No, no, no, no, no."
I  say write about what you don't know.  Explore it. Learn about it. Write about it. And even, write about what you don't know about it. There are so many ways to do this. Don't  limit yourself to what you can write about by following this rule. Break it. In whatever way you find possible.


The Rule: "Never use abstract "

Why you should break it: Oh my word, I don't even know where to begin with bashing this rule.  Abstract is something absolutely amazing to use. It makes for a very aesthetically pleasing book and makes your imagination rocket sky high. Do not, and I repeat, do not  constrict yourself to this rule. BREAK IT. If you feel like using something abstract, then use something abstract and describe it too.  I absolutely love reading about things that are abstract and things like that make up very lovely pieces of writing. 


So listen to the rules and then break them...but in proportion. There are some rules, like most grammar rules that you probably shouldn't break...or else your readers might not even be able to understand what you wrote.

But other than that...break those rules! 

And as always...

Keep on writing.
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#letstalk

 What is the one book that you've read that stood out to you the most for breaking the rules?