If you’ve never shared your writing with others before, especially those whom you don’t know, you may be wondering if there are rules about how to write.

The short answer is: no.

Millions of Readers haven’t sat together and agreed on exactly what makes writing good.

No two people in the world are the same, not even identical twins, so there is no one perfect way to write.

Since every person who has ever lived or who will ever live has their own unique spark, there can be no writing rules that must be followed by every Writer, everywhere, and at all times.

There are some general things many people prefer, but none of them are hard and fast rules.

Try to write clearly. Most people do not want to wade through a muddled mire of confusing, clunky, uncaptivating sentences. But, I am sure there are exceptions, as there are to almost every rule.

As for me, I sometimes wonder what long-winded Writers who persist in peppering their prose with incomprehensibly exhaustive paragraphs were thinking; maybe their Readers were and are impressed by the mass of language, rather than what is being said. There’s nothing wrong with that, but count me among those who read books, both fiction and nonfiction, not to hear the Writer talk, but to learn something, enjoy a story, or both.

To tell, or not to tell, that is the question.

“I know!” she said irritably. “You keep telling me not to tell, but I just don’t care. If you want to go around showing everybody everything, then fine, but I am a story-TELLER!”

I can tell by reading this sentence that she’s rather irritated, but if Writers need to add the adverb to remind me, well, I may or may not keep reading. It depends on a few things: the topic of the book, how much I enjoy it in spite of the unnecessary adverbiage, and how often the Author feels they need to tell me what I already know with that kind of junk word.

Others may love adverbs, and that’s okay. Maybe the very people who add a lot of them love them and want to tell their stories, instead of showing them. That’s okay. It’s the Writer’s story, and they should tell or show it as they prefer. If people don’t like it, too bad.

If somebody ever tells you how you SHOULD write, start singing: “Oh oh it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to…”

It’s your story. Write it how you want to.

I promise not to cry. I may or may not read it. I might like it, but I might not.

It’s my opinion and I’ll keep it for as long as I want to.

I’ll change it if and when I want to, any number of times, for any reason, without limit…

Feel free to agree or disagree with me, and please like, share, or comment — if you want to.