Blog Chain: Breaking the Law

Today’s blog chain topic was created by Abby. She asks:

There are SO many writing rules, but sometimes we have to break one or two, just to keep things interesting. Is there a writing rule you’ve broken on purpose? Why did you choose to break it? And if you want to post a snippet of your writing as an example, even better!

I’ve always been a play-by-the-rules kind of girl. That is, when I knew what the rules were. With writing, it seems that they’re changing daily. When I taught writing, I said to start with something that grabs attention or dialogue or out there fact. Recently, I heard not to start with dialogue? I can understand if it’s not attributed to anyone or if the dialogue is flat like:

“Hi,” I said as I passed John at his locker.

“Hi,” he said.

Yeah…that’s no way to start a story. I’ll even argue there’s no need to have this exchange in the book at all because it adds nothing. But dialogue in itself as a starter is not a problem for me. For example:

John’s dad cracked his knuckles and leaned in close, heart-to-heart style. “You know,” he said, slapping John on the knee. “The last time you looked this bothered was when Rover took a dump in your favorite hiking boots.”

If a book started like this, I’d be all over it. I’d want to know about the dad’s character, what’s bugging John, and why Rover takes dumps in people’s boots.

As for my writing, I just write. I don’t think about rules. I get a voice and go with it. Which means that the first draft has lots of problems. It may start slow. Not all the characters are as developed as they could be. There are holes in the plot. So maybe THAT’S a rule I break. Not outlining, not planning out the whole story, learning as I go. Yeah, let’s go with that. 🙂

To see more writing rebels, check out Eric’s post from yesterday and Shaun’s post tomorrow.