Welcome to my blog! I love visitors. Today is Writer’s Quote Wednesday hosted by Colleen from Silver Threading. ❤
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I’m a bit of a ‘writing rebel’, so it was no wonder this quote got my attention. There are so many rules in writing nowadays that I wouldn’t be surprised if a group of bitter, disgruntled librarians made up half of them. Just kidding. In all seriousness though, writers need to master all the rules of writing, so that we can then break some of them.
“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.”
—Elmore Leonard♦
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The Writer Next Door | Vashti Q 
Nice. I dig it. Good quote!
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Awesome quote, Vashti. I know English is a pain, but somebodies got to do it. I HATE the comma rules. I still never know when to use them. When I edit my book, I am going to buy a subscription to Grammarly just to have some help! LOL. Have an excellent week my friend. <
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So, I have a love/hate relationship with the comma and the semicolon.
Sometimes rules are made to be broken? 🙂
XOXO
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Ha, ha! Yeah, the semicolon is a pain. Every great writer I’ve read had broken a few rules. That says a lot. 😉
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I both love and hate “write what you know”
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I can relate with how you feel. If you know a great deal about a subject and you’d like to write about it that’s great, but writers shouldn’t limit themselves. That’s what research, investigation, and interviews are for. I say write about whatever you wish. 😉
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I do both. Writing what you know is a given but writing what you don’t know is growth. And research is just so much fun. 🙂
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You and I think alike. I agree, and I also love the research. 😉
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There aren’t specific rules that irk me. I just write down my thoughts, regardless of spelling and grammar. When I stop, my flow stops and I lose track. That’s why I correct it later. 🙂
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That’s always a great idea. I do the same. I allow my thoughts to pour out on paper––natural and raw, then edit later. 🙂
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Hi Vashti, love your quote. Many rules and too much perfection can kill all the creativity.
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Hi Elizabeth! You’re so right. If we all followed all the rules to a T there would be no individualism. You might as well let a cyborg do the writing for you. 🙂
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Great quote!
I just noted it down and yes the rules and grammar sometimes bother me.
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Thank you. I love it too. All great writers have broken a rule or two at some point in their career.
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Hi Vashti. Interesting post. I don’t mind most of the rules. I have a pedantic devil on my shoulder. 🙂
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Ha, ha! I just got a visual of that. I don’t mind using them most of the time but if one gets in the way of my voice or style it can be a problem for me.
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I am a spelling and grammar Natzi … need I say more lol
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Ah, ha, ha, ha! Proper spelling and grammar is a must for me. I’m talking about rules like, no prologues or no multiple POVs. Could you imagine reading Lord Of The Ring entirely in Frodo Baggins POV. I would never finish the book.
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True, but it would be an interesting experiment 😝
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Ha, ha! You may be right. 😉 xx
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Sounds like Fran and Yolanda should be editors Vashti!
Rules are good…
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I agree. Most rules are good––some suck. Ha, ha! 😛
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I don’t mind grammar rules (although writing in Spanish and English sometimes I might be at cross purposes), but I don’t like the prescriptives “rules” that nobody knows who made or how effective they are, about content. Perhaps, if you can’t write anything else, you just write rules to take the fun out of everybody else’s writing. Great quote!
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BINGO! You just nailed it, Olga! That’s exactly what I mean. Rules about grammar are important and should be followed. It’s those other rules that came out of nowhere that irk me. Why can’t an animal die in a horror story? If written correctly why not have a prologue. There are many great books with prologues! Who came up with these?
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I don’t like rules at all! i just go my own sweet way and hope that somewhere along the way it will all fit together nicely. Not a plotter!
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I’m a bit of both. I think some rules are okay. I don’t like rules that are really one person’s opinion and make no sense at all. 😉
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That sounds like very good advice! I’m not very structured but trying to be a bit more as it saves me spending too much time editing!
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