Do you think there are any hard and fast rules to writing?

[Shaun]

So, the question of the year/month/day/whatever. There are plenty of books, articles, and podcasts on the hard and fast rules of writing. But do they really exist, or are all writing rules breakable to a certain degree? What do you think?

[Lykaios]

Nope, other than to make sense, but then there's not much point in writing something if you're the only person who will understand it. Cormac McCarthy is a writer that comes to mind who doesn't play by grammar or punctuation rules, yet is highly successful and good at what he does, and there are probably many others who don't go by conventional writing rules, whatever they are. I don't really think 'writing rules' are steadfast; they can be bent and ignored, and still create a wonderful piece of work.

[Bowie20049]

I just don't like it whenever people make an excuse that their horrible spelling skills is intentional.

[SapphireSeaBird]

I think it's more guidelines that rules... But everyone tends to have their own rules when it comes to writing. Some things work for some people, and not for others, I guess =]

[Shaun]

I'm of the opinion that rules are good starting points, but that you should play with them as you develop as a writer. All you need to do after you start playing is discover the reasonable limits of ignoring the rules. Once you're there, then all is golden. Most great writers ignore all the rules anyway...

[Jack]

Bending pre-supposed writing rules is often what leads to great writing.

[lango]

Writing rules should be renamed to 'Walk-throughs' or something equivalent. The steps are there, its safe to use them, but if you're cheeky enough, and know what you're doing, you don't have to follow every single step. Skip around a bit.

[Rapsca]

All that counts is that what you write is understood by the reader.

[Clawfire]

Writing rules should be renamed to 'Walk-throughs' or something equivalent. The steps are there, its safe to use them, but if you're cheeky enough, and know what you're doing, you don't have to follow every single step. Skip around a bit.

I agree. If you're sure about what you're doing, you can skip some of the rules...

[Summer]

you create your own style,and if it is strong enough, sooner or later, it will be accepted by the readers, and maybe you would thus become a master

[Bilbo]

All that counts is that what you write is understood by the reader.

relly? i alwayz thot that itt wuz moree then thatt. ( You can understand that, but it would be nicer if I had proper grammar :P )

I disagree- it should be much more than understanding that the reader has for your work. Instead, you should aim to make your reader, while clearly understanding your topic and motive, enjoy the poem. ( For me, I can't enjoy a poem if every second word is mispelled, either.)

I can write a book that says " I hate ____ <--- ( Insert name of person here) " a million times over, and just by flipping through the book, I will understand it.

And I think that basically, if a reader understands, enjoys, and wants to read, your work, then it's fine. I picked "No, rules were made to be broken", though I don't believe that rules are literally made to be broken :P .

I just don't think that you should bind yourself with a few hard-set rules if you really think that changing those rules would make your literary work better.

... unless we're talking about spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I don't think that changing the spelling of a word will make your prose or poetry any better, so just stick with those simple rules.

[Shylee Long]

Yes NEVER steal someone elses stuff

[bookmonster]

Rules? What rules?:P