Well, darn. We didn't have any entrants in the contest.
That's okay. We'll do another one this summer.
A few changes. As you can see, I made it a little less impersonal layout for the blog. Second, I opened comments.
Now, on to the fun stuff! Oh, all right, that was a bit facetious, but editing can be fun. No, really. But this time, I'm going to talk about breaking "the rules." And make this a pirate-y gif-fy fun blog to boot.
As writers, especially newbie ones, the rules are thrown at us from all sides. And in the beginning, it helps to keep us in line, learn about the craft. But eventually, a little bug bites us, and we need to *gasp* cheat. Break the "rules." Or the entire story doesn't work.
Bear with me here. My favorite line in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is when Kyra Knightly's character, Elizabeth Swann, yells, "They're more like guidelines anyway!" This line applies to writing.
No, really, they are only guidelines. Rules are meant to be broken. And guidelines are meant to be ignored. If done correctly.
One of my favorite self published authors, Jade Hart, breaks the rules regularly. So does Laura Eno. And dozens of others I don't have the time to name (They'll appear regularly - so keep checking!).
The reason it works? They are careful how they go about it. They are willing to go the extra mile needed to ensure writing out of the box is smooth, comfortable and only noticeable if you look closely. These authors are the pirates of the writing community. And worthy of using as great examples.
In Jade's Ocean Kills, she breaks a big rule. The book is in first POV. For more than one character. That's right. You don't read just the MC, but the love interest's as well. She keeps it one POV per chapter, but transitions the reader smoothly with subtlety. At the top of every chapter is a graphic which tells the reader who is on deck. She ends the chapter with a cliffhanger, and that also tells the reader to prep to switch into the another headspace. Brilliant.
Laura Eno breaks another rule. She writes in more than one genre. From YA to Romance, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Supernatural, Historical .. this great lady does it all. And her fans love her for it. She doesn't box herself into just one, allows the story to be what it is. Despite the industry telling us to stick to one genre, she's proving it isn't required. She allows her writing to sell itself, not pigeon hole her imagination. Fantastic!
Both of these authors are willing to go out on a limb, but listen when ideas are thrown their way to help make it easier. And because of that, they break the rules in great ways.
You can do it too. It's scary, especially the first time out. And as an editor, it's my job to help authors break those rules, in outstanding ways. Do it. Be careful, watch how it's done successfully by others, then go out and turn the publishing world on its ear.
Now for some shameless self promotion: Check out our latest addition to services offered. While we do full comprehensive edits of your MS, if you just want to check and ensure your MS is ready, or to get that extra hand, we do partials for only $50 for your first 50 pages. It includes a comprehensive edit by either Robin or myself, an email of our thoughts and suggestions and one Q & A session via email.
