You’ve heard the rules of writing before. You probably know them well enough to recite “a litany as deeply embedded as the Lord’s Prayer.”
Show, don’t tell. Write what you know. The first sentence is key. The last sentence is key… You should never write in the second person.
But what function do the rules serve if these dictums limit the scope of our creative potential? In an essay featured on The Millions, Ethan Hauser shares, “Writing is so abstract, and anything that makes it more tangible seems important.” Instead of simply adhering to the rules, Hauser encourages writers to pay attention to sound, rhythm, and commas, and to break the rules, “every single one,” in order to figure out which risks are worth taking.
