This week we talked about writing rules and whether it’s a good idea to follow them, break them intentionally, or perhaps ignore them altogether.
Are you a rule follower? It’s okay if you are. Many romance writers, beginning and advanced, feel more comfortable writing if they have guidelines and rules to follow. There are many writing rules. All you have to do is search “romance writing” and you’ll be inundated with them.
For example, one rule I remember, and immediately broke, was the rule that you shouldn’t have a prologue. I took the attitude of a spoiled brat with my first book, Cheating Time. I wanted a prologue and the heck with the rules. It helped that my writing instructor at the time said that he thought the rule was a good one but that he liked the pacing of my prologue. I took it as permission and ran with it.
A good friend of mine and a fellow writer suggested that it’s a good idea to know the rules and understand the reason behind them before you decide to break them. It’s good advice. And to that end I’ve compiled what I believe are the 3 best rules for writing books – you can check out the list here.
Get Rid of Your Writing Hangups – A Quick Confidence Boosting Exercise
We all have writing hangups and triggers that wear away at our confidence. Grab a pencil and a piece of paper and write down two of your writing hangups. Now explore different ways to overcome your hangups. For example, if you don’t think you write good dialogue then try different approaches to dialogue, copy a writer that you believe is skilled with dialogue, take a course on writing dialogue.
Experiment with the possibilities and grow your confidence through exploration and practice.
Grab more confidence boosting tips – 40 Life Changing Tips to Help You Write More Confidently
Have fun and happy writing!
Annette