Most writers today, writers of fiction, will find there are myriad rules to follow in order to write a really good book of fiction. And for the unpublished writer hoping to catch the eye of an editor, the rules had better be followed. I know there was a time when that wasn’t true for the most part. Show don’t tell was not necessarily the norm, and writing tight, though it certainly had it’s place in a novel, was not the goal. Many of our classics became classics because of beautiful, flowery language. But today’s reader gets impatient with long, laborious descriptions and doesn’t want to be told of the action, but be in it. Televison, movies, and more importantly, computers and high tech have produced a I want it now consumer. Many writers ask the question, why should I have to follow the rules? Who sets these rules? In the end, the reader sets the rules and you have to ask yourself who will be your reader, your audience? Who are you writing the book for? Is it for yourself? To be able to say I wrote a book? Is it a beautiful story that dwells within you and you only care if it touches but one soul? Then rules will matter little. But if you have an overwhelming desire to join the ranks of the published author, to write a book that might find its way to hundreds or even thousands of readers, then yes. You have to follow the rules. You have to nab that editor. There will come a time you might test those rules, bend them to almost breaking. But it isn’t now.
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” KJV Psalms 19:14
Comments 1
Rules are the pox of a civilized society. While I enjoy the beauty of the literary style, I think that I, too, am that hair on fire character that needs constant stimulation to keep my interest in reading. This is well put, and in a free market society, the market rules!