ONE WRITING RULE I BREAK (Z Minor)

At some point in time I probably have broken every rule there is in the writing world. Everyone you talk to knows this rule or that rule. They are always sure to point them out. Then of course, someone says “Yes, but Nora Roberts breaks that rule all the time.” Then someone says “When you are as successful as she is. You can do it too.” That usually ends the conversation fairly quickly.

There are rules regarding margins and line spacing most writers adhere to. I know I do. The creative side of writing is where there is more room to look past the rules because after all they do change with the times. When I started learning the craft of writing, the writer had to have two spaces after the end of a sentence. Then one day, if by magic, the rule changed to only one space. The change wasn’t announced unless you went to a writers’ meeting and someone said “Did you know…”

I try my best to tell my story in a concise and interesting manner. I always have too many commas. Don’t you know – my writing friends call me the comma queen. No I don’t have a crown – just a delete button. Of course it is interesting and amazing, two people can read the same page and put commas in different places.


If I worried about all the writing rules I have heard or read about, I would never get something down on paper. So I write my material, rewrite, and rewrite until I think it has a good flow or what I call a good rhythm to it. Sometimes I take out words, put more in, and usually remove some commas. And in truth, now that I am thinking about it, I don’t think about writing rules when I write. I just tell my story. Because after all rules are made to be broken. Aren’t they!?!?!

 Z. Minor
Author of Historical Romantic & Contemporary Suspense Novels

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