Wow, I’m so glad you shared this! I especially appreciate the “write every day” and “write what you know.” I’ve thought about it myself but have never been able to put it into words.
I mean, I agree with all of your takes. The overarching one being that these rules are good general guidelines, but that taken too far they will actually start turning against you. Extremes are not usually good in any area of life, and that includes storytelling it seems haha. Your opinion on the "write what you know" advice was especially eloquently made. The impulse to make a story feel more credible because it's based on your personal experience not only means we shouldn't be able to write anything that isn't contemporary, realistic fiction, but I also think it can be detrimental because then you might also fall into the trap of putting things in the story that don't belong there just because that's what happened in real life. But most of all, stories impact us because of how they impact the protagonist going through the plot, so your take that one should focus on emotional accuracy above all is so good! That's what make stories resonate. Loved this post as always!
Completely with you on kill your darlings being weaponised. The reframe from "do I love this?" to "does this serve the story?" is the whole game. The darlings are usually the only place my actual voice shows up, so cutting them on principle just leaves the safe, sandable version of me. Exactly the take I needed today!!
So true! The question was an excellent reframe. It's also worth examining why your darlings are your darlings. Sometimes, yes, it can be because we like the sound of them a little too much but other times I think it can be because a small sentence encapsulates a huge part of the story we are trying to convey, so in that case it wouldn't be about cutting it but seeing how it can better fit in the story so it really accomplishes it full purpose.
Such a thoughtful and well-observed post, thank you! I especially connected with the 'kill your darlings' rule as, for me, it's made me overthink my writing way too much!
It seems like writers are collectively deciding to stop taking the 'rules' we've been taught as seriously. Especially with the rise of AI, which has no problem following rules.
Wow, I’m so glad you shared this! I especially appreciate the “write every day” and “write what you know.” I’ve thought about it myself but have never been able to put it into words.
I love this. I do feel like a lot of the rules are constricting and/or intimidating.
I mean, I agree with all of your takes. The overarching one being that these rules are good general guidelines, but that taken too far they will actually start turning against you. Extremes are not usually good in any area of life, and that includes storytelling it seems haha. Your opinion on the "write what you know" advice was especially eloquently made. The impulse to make a story feel more credible because it's based on your personal experience not only means we shouldn't be able to write anything that isn't contemporary, realistic fiction, but I also think it can be detrimental because then you might also fall into the trap of putting things in the story that don't belong there just because that's what happened in real life. But most of all, stories impact us because of how they impact the protagonist going through the plot, so your take that one should focus on emotional accuracy above all is so good! That's what make stories resonate. Loved this post as always!
Completely with you on kill your darlings being weaponised. The reframe from "do I love this?" to "does this serve the story?" is the whole game. The darlings are usually the only place my actual voice shows up, so cutting them on principle just leaves the safe, sandable version of me. Exactly the take I needed today!!
So true! The question was an excellent reframe. It's also worth examining why your darlings are your darlings. Sometimes, yes, it can be because we like the sound of them a little too much but other times I think it can be because a small sentence encapsulates a huge part of the story we are trying to convey, so in that case it wouldn't be about cutting it but seeing how it can better fit in the story so it really accomplishes it full purpose.
Such a thoughtful and well-observed post, thank you! I especially connected with the 'kill your darlings' rule as, for me, it's made me overthink my writing way too much!
It seems like writers are collectively deciding to stop taking the 'rules' we've been taught as seriously. Especially with the rise of AI, which has no problem following rules.