Blog Chain - Breakin' the Rulz

Today's my day on the Blog Chain and for this round, the lovely Abby asked:

There are SO many writing rules, but sometimes we have to break one or two, just to keep things interesting. Is there a writing rule you've broken on purpose? Why did you choose to break it? And if you want to post a snippet of your writing as an example, even better!

Ahhh...those rule-breakers :D I think I break them all every now and then :) But, like a few of my other blog chain buddies, I am sort of fond of sentence fragments. They just add a good sense of urgency, and extra oomph to the scene. As with everything, overusing them cuts their powers, so I try not to use them too much. But I think they can be very effective when used right.

And...something of mine to illustrate, hmm? Okay - here is a snippet of my current book, Treasured Lies :)

Her heart thumped in painful lurches. She tried to calm down. It was probably just a really big mouse. Or one of the cats? Perhaps the old place really was haunted.

She jumped as a muffled thud reverberated across the rafters. The faint sound of breaking glass had Min running for the exit. There was no visible handle on the outside so Min grabbed the edge of the door and pulled it closed behind her. She was careful to straighten the tapestry that hid the entrance. Backing away, she made sure there was no evidence of the room.

Footsteps.

Min froze in alarm.

Nearer…nearer…

It was probably just another student. Though that could prove problematic since Min wasn’t supposed to be out of bed. If she were honest with herself, she might admit that all the tales of ghostly lights and noises of late had her a little spooked. The footsteps echoed through the hall.

Min held her breath. She blew out her candle and pressed herself into the wall near the window across from the tapestry-covered alcove, half burying herself in the curtains.

The footsteps grew louder and stronger until at last they stopped a few feet from where she hid. An invisible hand reached out and yanked the draperies aside, letting the strong moonlight spill into the corridor. Min could make out the large, dark shadow of a man. She tried to keep silent. Her breath came faster, her heart beating in desperate time to her panic.

The shadow lunged.

~~~

:) Be sure to stop by Michelle Hickman's blog to see what rules she likes to break and check out Eric's tomorrow to see his rule breaking awesomeness :)

Don't Shock Me Unless You Mean It

You must break all the rules of painting [*insert "writing"*], but you must also convince me you've had a reason to do so. 

— Hans Hoffman

I love this quote. I've read books where something completely unexpected and shocking happens and it's just PHENOMENAL. Maybe the author kills off a main and well-loved character, or maybe they stick a poem in the middle of a chapter or switch POVs midstream or jumps time frames or breaks some other "rule" and it just works. Sometimes breaking all the rules or bending and twisting them in unexpected ways is what makes an incredible book so amazing.

And sometimes it's painfully obvious that the author was aiming for some shock value and it falls flat. 

I think there is a time and place for bending or breaking the rules, but it has to make sense....there has to be a reason for it. If it's done for shock value alone it often comes across as being too forced, unrealistic. The reader is pulled out of the story instead of being thrust further in and is left with a sense of "Oh Please" instead of being wowed.

Just be sure you've got a good reason for what you are doing, something that makes sense for the story, and your readers will be captivated.

Have you ever read something "shocking" or rule-breaking that left you less than impressed? Have you read something done so well it left you in awe of the author's awesomeness? :)

Blog Chain - Breaking the Rules Baby!!

Quote of the Day:

There are three rules for writing the novel.
Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
~ W. Somerset Maugham

It's Blog Chain time! Our wonderful Bonny posted before me and Shaun is up next, so be sure to swing by his blog tomorrow!

Our topic for this round was chosen by Kate. She wanted to know:

What writing rules/advice - whether it was a matter of cannot or will not - have you broken?

Well, as most of the other members have stated, I've broken pretty much all of them at one point and time. Some purposely, others totally by accident.

I too am a fan of adverbs and adjectives, and I love a good prologue now and then. I start other projects before finishing the one I'm working on. I write different genres. I occasionally use long, complex sentences. Or short, fragmented sentences. And one word sentences or paragraphs. I even sometimes mix my tenses, tossing in a present tense line in a past tense book.

One rule I have a hard time breaking is the whole proper grammar thing. I'm an English major. Going through school, I used bad grammar at my peril.

But....when writing novels, especially YAs where you have a bunch of teenagers talking, you just can't stick to the grammar rules and have it come out sounding normal.

For instance, my crit buddies recently ran across a line of mine that I'm sure still has them rolling in the aisles. It read:

I peeked at him again. He looked like Ronan, sort of. Maybe like Ronan’s cuter older brother - if he had one. I hoped it wasn’t he.

Yes, I actually wrote the words "I hoped it wasn't he" coming out of a teenager's mouth. I knew it sounded horribly wrong, but it was grammatically correct! What's a girl to do???

I'll tell you what she should do - she should break the rules!!

Well, in all honesty, I try not to break most of them but sometimes they need to be at least bent, if not shattered.

Maybe it would be easier to pick a rule I DON'T break :D There is one rule I absolutely stick to no matter what. The POV rule. I'm a stickler for it. Mostly because when I wrote my first book, I was horrible (with a capital H) with this rule. I once had a paragraph, ONE PARAGRAPH, with FOUR POVS going on. Yeah. I was bad.

So now, I make very sure my POVs are straight - no head hopping allowed!! :D

How about you? Are there rules that you just love to break? Rules you are careful never to break?