I agree with everything you said here. The more I read and the more I submit my own writing for publication, the more I realize how long and broad is the interpretation of 'right' and 'wrong'. After it all, the most important thing is still going to be if you told a good story.
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Oh good, I’m not just a renegade and a heretic, then? 😁
I do think most writing rules are meant to stamp out bad habits that can undermine writing pretty quickly, for those struggling to make their writing work. But ultimately if you master the storytelling aspect, many rules can go by the wayside. Wonderful to hear from you, as always, @negativer!
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I think some of those rules are in the category of 'big sins' that can derail a story entirely, like infodumps, telling vs showing, poor hooks, slow/uneven pacing, etc. Others are in the category of 'little sins', like dialogue tags, passive voice, italics, etc.
In the end, we need to write words to tell a story, and even our day to day lives are full of little sins. I'd much prefer to read a good story scattered with little sins than a bad story that's sinless and guilt free.
Ok, my metaphors are going off the rails a bit, but sometimes I feel we don't spend enough time determining how a really good story is constructed and what makes them good and just end up drowning in minutiae and mechanics.