Cut Through the Barbed Wire (Thoughts on the so-called writing rules.)

I grew up on a steady diet of Hardy Boys and Stephen King. I read a few classics only because my English teachers made me, and while I enjoyed them, it was always suspense I went back to. When I started writing my first novel, it was of course the suspense genre I chose. Most of what I’d read was written in third person and so I naturally wrote my first four attempts in the same.

Now, I find myself writing first person, tear-jerking, women’s fiction.

Why the sudden change?

Well, you know that adage, you are what you eat? I’ve been chewing on some new stuff in recent years. My friend Chip turned me onto Peace Like a River. It absolutely mesmerized me. Then my friend Frank told me about an up and coming author named Charles Martin. When Frank Peretti says someone’s worth reading, well, I had to check him out. I fell in love with Martin’s stories. Another friend recommended Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, another The Memory Keeper's Daughter, another March and Memoirs of a Geisha, and the list goes on.

I became a glutton for great writing.

As my reading tastes changed to a softer, more introspective sort of story, my writing began to reflect it. But there was a problem. I had been a good student of the craft and learned the writing rules inside and out. I was admonished when I broke them. I admonished others when they did. All was well and comfortable and peacefully black and white.

The problem? Well, these beautifully written masterpieces I’d discovered and devoured were not written in black and white, but shades of gray. They blatantly broke my trusted writing rules, with ‘ly’ adjectives strewn all over the place. ‘I wondered’s, ‘she heard’s, ‘he thought’s replaced the italicized direct IM (internal monologue) I’d been taught was the right way to do it. Back story showed up sooner than the first fifty pages, etc. You name the writing rule and one or all of these books broke it.

What gives? That’s what I wanted to know. So, I reread these novels for story and voice. When I came upon a broken writing rule, I mentally edited their work to adhere to the rules as I’d learned them. Nine times out of ten, my edited version didn’t read as well as the "incorrect" way the author wrote it.

These writers were winning Pulitzer Prizes with their books chocked full of bent and broken writing rules. They were hitting the NYT best-seller lists! After reading them I could see why.

I’ve concluded that the so called writing rules are meant to be broken. Don’t get me wrong, the rules exist for a reason. I’ve edited manuscripts where the writer clearly hadn’t learned the rules enough to discern when to break them. I continue to suggest Self-Editing for Fiction Writers and all the other how-to books which were recommended to me when I began this journey.

I do believe however that the rules are a merely a pliable guideline, not a barbed wire fence meant to imprison writers. Most anything can be done if, of course, you do it well.

I suggest those of you not reading any prize-winning, best-selling, (or just incredibly wonderful), novels with an eye for the so called writing rules that they break, to do so. Did they do it well? Can you? I think you should give it a try.

If you've mastered the craft within the barbed confines of the writing rules, it may be time to grab a pair of wire cutters and master the art.

GINA HOLMES is founder of the popular fiction sites, Novel Journey and Novel Reviews. She's also a mother, novelist, registered nurse, and freelance writer who has contributed to publications such as Epiphany’s and The Roanoker magazines.

Originally from New Jersey, Gina now makes her home in Southern Virginia where she’s learned to forgo bagels for biscuits and “yo’s” for “y’alls”.

Along with a slew of fine editors, agents and authors, Gina will be leading workshops at The Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer's Conference, May 18-22.

Click here to learn more or register.