I have been criticized for touting the rules of writing. The person that criticized my blog was correct to a certain extent. Rules are guidelines, and while mainly true, there are times you should throw that rule book out the window.

I read an article a while back that made me stop and think. It went against everything I had been told, but it also supported everything I had been told. I know that was confusing so I’m going to clear it up for you.

We have all heard show don’t tell. Telling is a sell-out and the result of lazy writing. Right! Wrong!

Showing is the rule of thumb and I support it wholeheartedly. The problem is people who take it literally and want to show everything down to the most minute detail, or those who think you can never tell anything, and of course, that’s simply not true.

If you show every single detail, you will never finish that novel, and your reader will get lost in the minutia.

My husband is always telling me you can’t check your brain in at the door. Of course, he’s referring to my reliance on the GPS in my car, but it relates to every aspect of life.

Rules are great and give us guidelines to follow, but yes, rules are sometimes meant to be broken.

Something to think about.

-Jan R