5th July 2016 | for Creatives | language, writing, creative freedom, Christopher J. Yates, break the rules |
"Learn every grammar rule there is so that you can make an informed decision about when to defy those rules. (I never once heard it said of a good writer, 'Oh, so-and-so is such a great grammarian.')"
"Out-of-category authors have begun a journey that I wish all novelists would take: a journey away from what is comfortable and convention-bound to fiction that is free, courageous, inventive, and influential because it's utterly unique. It's a place where novelists don't obey genre rules, but summon them when they're useful and bend them to their own purposes."
"Perhaps in part because they have fewer rules to follow, they must rely more on universal techniques and stay truer to their inner compasses. Without genre crutches to lean on they must walk the walk of true novelists. You can call them genre-bending if you like, but I call them genre-transcending. While they may establish a new category, they are genuine fiction masters."
"I have the right to be certain of the sacredness of speech, and of the sanctity of the right to mock, comment, to argue and to utter."
"I long ago began to bridle at the idea there were 'rules' to writing, and, over time, no rule came to aggravate me more than the seemingly carved-in-stone dictum: 'Show, Don't Tell.'"
"Innovate. 'Learn the rules and then break them' is still solid advice."
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