RULES - should they ever be broken? by Hywela Lyn
Once upon a time I naively believed that one just wrote a book, revised it to within an inch of its life until it was as good as one could get it, and submitted it to an agent or publisher. So I did exactly that, and eventually, after several tries, received the email that made my entire year - an acceptance with the coveted Publishing Contract. Then I waited for my edits, joined groups and loops talked with other writers on the internet, and came to realise that there were a great many rules which were supposed to be followed by a writer which I didn't even know existed. By luck rather than judgement or even talent, I seemed to have instinctively complied with a lot of them but as I went through the suggestions I received from my editor I learnt all about the importance of 'deep point of view', 'showing not telling' avoidance of 'head hopping' and adverbs, and the 'pluperfect tense', This last one was brought to my attention lately, w...