Abide – definition: 1) to remain; continue; stay 2) to put up with; tolerate 3) to accept without opposition or question.
We all know there are ‘rules’ to writing, whether it is fiction, non-fiction or other modes of the written word. I had an interesting conversation last night at my novel workshop regarding how we are taught writing in school. One participant in our group is a teacher and she is in the midst of editing her first manuscript. During the discussions she told us that the writing style taught to students is very different to that of creative writing. She is re-learning how to write!
Unfortunately, there is no distinction made between the different styles of writing in schools. So an essay, an article and a story will all be written in the same way. As we know this isn’t correct and thereby lies the problem. A young writer may happily write story after story thinking they have the correct structure but it isn’t until their work is reviewed, that they learn the error.
Is this a fault of the system? Or is it a matter of ‘one fits all’? Is it a matter of available classroom time to teach all the styles ?
I follow Kristin King - http://kristinkingauthor.wordpress.com/ and she has several writing rules posts that I am sharing here:
http://kristinkingauthor.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/writing-rules-we-could-do-without/
http://kristinkingauthor.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/george-orwells-rules-for-writing/
http://kristinkingauthor.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/rules-of-writing-elmore-leonard/
