Why Writing Rules Don't Matter | Rules vs. Craft

MY SHORT STORIES:

FAQS
→How old are you? - 24
→How long have you been writing? - Since I was 8
→Where do you live? - I keep that private for safety reasons, but I grew up in Vancouver.
→Where did you go to university and what did you study? - I keep my university information private, but I majored in writing with a concentration in fiction.
→What are your pronouns? - They/them or she/her
→Where can I read your books? - None of my books are published yet, but you can read my published short fiction in my linktree (linked above!)
→So when will your book be published? - I don’t know! I’m in the revision process right now, but I can’t predict exactly when I’ll have a book published. But I’m working on it!
→Do you plan to traditionally publish or self publish? - Traditionally publish
→Will you read my book/story/chapter/mentor me? - Unfortunately I cannot accommodate these requests because editing/critiquing is a labour intensive task that I can’t afford to do for free alongside my job, my own writing, and running this platform. If you would like to hire me for paid editing work, contact me privately on twitter or instagram.

OUTRO MUSIC: "l u v t e a [acoustic]" by Autumn Keys

SOCIAL

[own]

For me it has always been like this:
Beginners go wrong, because they do not know rules
Intermediates go wrong, because they know too many rules
Masters break rules

[septemasg.]

I adore this video, learning writing has been extremely difficult and I’ve been working at it my whole life. There’s so much that’s unsaid, and you must learn to read between the lines. There were some rules that everyone I asked only gave part of the answer, it’s taken years to finally understand every aspect of specific types of writing. I’m finally deconstructing the craft, I’ve never been able to do that, I just knew that I liked something, but not WHY it was good. Now I understand why.

[talemsplash]

I came across your channel last week and have probably watched through a good 30% of all the videos you've made at this point. They're all so informative, and more importantly, they instill a sense of accountability in me to take what I've learned and actually write more. For way too long I was paralyzed by aiming for perfection and I've had to reconfigure my brain a bit to allow myself to make mistakes - and to understand that the "perfection or bust" mentality was just a veil to hide my own insecurities in the craft. By turning my brain off and just writing, I've found it fun again after YEARS of finding it exhausting. Thank you so much and keep up the excellent videos!

[noob_improove]

There is a famous phrase-you can break any rule if you know you are breaking it. It originally applied in the context of formatting/document outlining, but it applies to writing too, I think.

[justinedse]

Yes! Yes! Yes! Shaelin is so right yet again. It feels so good when the story or poem just flows and it's okay if your work doesn't follow any of the rules! Because of this it makes your work uniquely yours. It creates your voice.

[JoshKnoxChinnery]

So many good quotes in this video! "Rules are like training wheels"
"Rules are there to avoid pitfalls"
Would love more examples in future discussions on this topic! I'd absolutely watch an hour of you breaking rules.

[QueenAlorajoi]

Excellent points made. I’m currently writing a graphic novel script and there is little to none of way of technical advice about how to go about it from a pure writer side of book tube, I luckily have an artist to help me with the graphic side of the novel. I have experience writing for college, so understanding the technical side of writing is easy now, so I really get where your coming from. Only now am I really experiencing the art side of writing, where I’m less concerned about how to get whatever scene across but now more of the why, or what this moment or symbols may say about the over all tone. All in all having to be way more creative, conscientious and artistic to do this writing project has been a fun so far, Thanks for the vids they’ve been a huge help.

[UdyKumra]

"I find that it's one of the things that's missing from the AuthorTube mode of learning…many things are missing from the AuthorTube mode of learning"

damn Shaelin tell us what you really think

[tylerharrell]

I like to think of 'rules' as prescriptions—if your prose is already healthy you don't need them but you should be mindful of them.

[AppleCore]

You are definitely the only author/book-tuber I absolutely love to follow. I hear so much of the same writing advice that lack an insight about when it should and should not be used, without a proper explanation. You make it understandable and usable.

[KSCdd]

Just discovered your channel today and binged through so many videos. They've helped me so much and I'm less frustrated now! Thank you😊

[annlillyjose]

Absolutely love this video! The message is so strong and necessary. As someone who has benefitted from the rules a lot and then very slowly learned to write my stories my own way, this is a very genuine discussion on the topic of rules vs. craft. I make several mistakes even now, but it's important to prioritise the story over the rules. Because the rules exist for the writer, not the writer for rules.

[vultureiraq]

I’m trying to get back into writing my story called the fairytales of cotton candy land I noticed that it’s

A) Not supposed to be a novel
B) not supposed to be focused on a central main character ; it’s supposed to tell stories between different characters in the same universe
C) is a fairytale, keep it sweet and simple

Those are my rules of my story and If I follow anything else like the three act structure I get lost and not understand what I want this story to be.

My advice is if your writing a story know what you want it to be whether it’s obviously a novella or a novel ... I don’t even know how many words yet but it’s a journey to figure out as a novice writer...


Also don’t focus on am I a professional writer or not because the truth is, it doesn’t matter how much of a professional writer you are, your story will never be perfect. I feel what really matters is if you love the story you crafted not if it’s a Stephen Kings book.

[kaitlind]

You make me passionate about writing like no other. Thank you for existing

[kulaniwarner]

Well fucking said ;) Critical thinking is a skill you can’t really appreciate until you understand it’s true value. The concept you covered for writing applies across the board. Knowledge is a rumour until it lives in the bones.

[pjalexander_author]

This is my new favorite video. Thank you Shaelin for elucidating this concept so brilliantly. This warms my heart, and I hope every writer gets the chance to see it. 💯

[kotrena]

Amazing video! A lot of writing rules drive me crazy because people believe that they are universal. They are not, you must apply them considering your genre and style. Also a lot of things depend on your skill, prologues are hated merely because people can't write them well.

[billyalarie]

another excellent video. frankly, i need to remember that i know the rules well enough to know that i don't need to follow them.

i need to remember to have more confidence in myself with these things. (especially because i have tried many novels of late where i do NOT LIKE the way the rules are being adhered to so strictly.)

[rev]

Congratulations on 90k! The rapid growth of your channel makes me so happy

[tomlewis]

I'm very pleased with the way you framed this. And I could not agree more.

There are rules that are just plain ridiculous and stupid, there are rules that may or may not have some value, depending, and there are rules that I consider strong enough to never break.

I can only think of two that I feel are inviolable, which are 'Don't tell the reader what they already know' (this does not apply to non-redundant repetition done for a specific purpose), and 'Don't confuse the reader'. Most rules are honestly not that well thought out and have the disadvantage of being able to confuse the writer and intimidate the writer, even if their intent is good. But those two rules are my North Star. I'll never break them.

Inexplicably, what I seem to hear a lot lately is 'put a difficult dilemma decision in every single scene, or your story just won't work'. But when I read really good books, this never seems to be the case. Masterworks authors have essentially broken that rule over and over, and still were able to write a story expertly.