Match to Flame 235

 While I’m on the subject of rules, let me share a few other thoughts on the subject with the caveat that they will run contrary (there’s that word again) to the accepted wisdom on writing, and the keepers of accepted wisdom would have me pilloried in the square for having the temerity to share them with you. But since it’s just between friends here . . .

So, as my writing turned from jokes to storytelling, I started to pay more attention to the process of telling a story. I’d read what other writers had to say, and more than one writer would suggest reading a specific book saying that it was immensely helpful to their development as a writer and their ability to tell stories. And these were very good writers. So, wanting to be a good writer myself, I sought out the book to see what I could learn. The author starts by saying that there are no rules for writing, only principles. He then proceeds to pretty much treat the principles as hard-and-fast rules. It always seemed to me that the more rules you followed, the less “you” there was in the story. If someone likes working from a recipe, and that works for them, great. Whatever floats, but just so you know . . .

-Characters don’t have to go through a change by story’s end . . . unless you want them to.

-There doesn’t necessarily have to be a conflict . . . it’s your call.

-Your character may not overcome the monster . . . that’s okay.

-And you don’t have to have a nicely closed ending to satisfy a reader’s need for completeness and closure.

From The Complete Funky Winkerbean Volume 15