What's the Point of Writing Rules?

I hope you guys like the video despite the lack of script! At the end I say the next videos won't be done for a few weeks, I meant the character arc videos. I'm wrapping up a video on editing (the one I meant to film for this week) which will be out very soon. If you're getting blasted with this summer heat, I hope you stay cool!

A ceramist friend explained an artist's path as a circle. I think of it more as a spiral. We return to the same topics, but each time with a different vantage point. Beginners don't understand that knowing when a rule doesn't count isn't the same as not knowing the rule. They have to travel the circle back to were they were.

I love the background. Your hair matching the wood is strangely satisfying.

I think a big part of the problem is the way writing advice is given. Interestingly, it was EXACTLY when learning about filter words that I came to this conclusion. "Don't use filter words." "Why?" "It'll distance the reader from the character." "That's what I'm trying to do." A much more helpful thing to tell a new writer than Don't Do X, is "If You Do X, your reader will experience Y."

This was really insightful! I think calling them "Rules" adds to the confusion. Calling them "Tools" might be more helpful. For example, avoiding filter words is a tool that helps you shrink the narrative distance. You need to learn what the tools are for to know when to use them, and when not to. This is a really important discussion for creatives of all kinds. Thanks for sharing!

Never apologize for looks. We're here for your clear knowledge and experience.

Thank you for this! Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of writing rules that have achieved a sort of folklore status, where the "what" of the rule gets passed on, but the "why" doesn't. I believe people are genuinely trying to be helpful when they pass these rules on, but they never learned the "why" themselves, and are perhaps insecure about admitting that fact. I do find that professionals are better about knowing and communicating the rationales behind the rules, but even that's not entirely universal.

I could really feel your energy and excitement to discuss this topic! Knowing the rules to know when, how, and why you can break or bend them is important and I'm glad that this impromptu video was made from your discussion. I guess you broke your own rules to make this video! 😏 A great video as always Ellen!

I wrote a 10-book series (7 novels, 3 novellas). I've read/edited them individually at least once (some 2 or 3 times), and I'm currently reading/editing them all for the 3rd pass through the entire series. - "Why did you do that?" - 1) I wanted to make sure I didn't write myself into a corner. I needed the entire series laid out, with all the intricate character arcs, plots, twists; etc. - 2) I wanted readers to be able to enjoy reading my series for the first time TWICE; so I've written the series in a way that allows audiences the ability to read it in two different orders. There will be the published order (book 1, book 2, book 3, etc.); but each book is also internally called a scroll with it's own number (scroll 1, scroll 2, scroll 3, etc.). This means I needed to ensure that certain mysteries aren't ruined when read in the other order, and certain characters or event details aren't assumed to be known by readers. A fun, tricky task for me; but I think I nailed it. - 3) My books also have illustrations. I wanted all the books to have the same art style from the same artist; so I couldn't reasonably expect him to be around for a decade or more to randomly come back and draw some art. I needed to present him all the images I required in a short amount of time (2 years), which meant I needed all the image ideas with specific details from the beginning, which meant I needed to have all the books written before I had the first image drawn. - Do you think it was smart of me to write them all before publishing the first book?

Love the background in this one 💛 giving cottage core vibes

I think there is something quite apropos about you delivering this topic without a script -- aka, subverting one of your own usual rules for making videos! Very thematic. And great advice, as always. ❤

Exiting lurking mode for a comment here: I've been following your channel for years, and you are one of the few people speaking about so many good topics for writers (filtering, rules, distance between reader and characters, and all the other videos). It's good to hear an impromptu video, and the quality is still there!! I look forward for more content like this one, and to hear more about your book!

Loved this video. A great reminder not to blindly follow "rules" and to focus on what a story or an art piece is actually trying to achieve.

What I'm writing is a continuous story with no beginning or end that I never plan to publish, so most rules don't apply to me, but I still watch every video of yours about every rule because when I'm stuck, it makes it easier to figure out why, and I can try some partial structure or technique, and modify and adjust them to fit my format. Rules are tools to be used if they fit the purpose.

It's good to see you again. Thank you for providing us your knowledge to us. We all appreciate it and hope to see more content from this channel. 🙏

I think it was really on point to go into this video topic without a script. Good job.

I have (very) recently finished the first draft of my 100.000 words fantasy novel, and this video was very helpful, I can't wait to hear more news about your book! Additionally, this is really interesting because my experience is the opposite to yours, I come from a visual arts background and have recently been going towards writing. As for the rules-breaking, for visual arts this is completely true, you cannot make anything 'special' without breaking a few rules to spice it up, but while you break them, it is of utmost importance to know why you break them intentionally. I made a video on my channel detailing my statistics of how I wrote my book in about 100 days. All along the process, I kept referencing a lot of your videos, especially about the quarters of a novel, how to keep it interesting, and I will continue to do so during the editing phase that is coming up. Thank you Ellen!

I loved this video format ao much! It feels more like a conversation because you have those natural pauses etc. Please do more of these and don't let it be a one off 😅

love the humidity induced curls.

Here I took a break from writing to look at subscriptions and HERE YOU ARE! Yay Ellen! I hope you and yours are well. Thanks for the video, I'll watch it tomorrow. Cheers and happy writing y'all!