Writing Rules I Hope/Want to B R E A K

There are several writing rules I want to break someday...

 I am in an IEW writing course and I have been in IEW since I can remember, I don't necessarily like IEW...at all. In fact, I have hopes of possibly switching to a different writing course next school year! So just a heads up, if you see a strange writing rule, it's probably from IEW! :P

1. The question rule. In my writing class we went over introductions recently, and one of the rules was that you may have one or three questions in the introduction, never more, never less. But that got me thinking, why not? I get not doing it for a paper, which is what we were talking about, but why not disobey this rule whilst writing a novel?

 

     
  
     I want to have a book where the whole first chapter (or at least page) is entirely made up of questions, maybe I'll make the main character have anxiety.

2. Pretty red bow. IEW has this thing about happy endings and everything tying together, which is great for  boring college essays and all, but who wants that in a story? NOT ME. *Evil laughter* I'd rather make my readers suffer by ending things with a bang, although I do sometimes like to write happy endings.

3. "Said is Dead" rule. NO, NO, NO, NO. IT IS NOT. Okay, do you know how annoying it is when every dialogue tag and action tag is an adjective?? I look back at my old writings where I thought it was a sin to ever use "said", and I cringe. It looks as awful as using "said" for every dialogue tag! Mix it up.

4. No more than three short sentences a paragraph. I agree with this rule sometimes, but other times, no. Sometimes action scenes are way better if they read fast and chipped, it creates a sense of urgency. I like books that use a bunch of short sentences every now and then.

5. Don't began your sentences with And, But, or So. Hahahahaha, I break this one all the time on here, because I can! And you can't stop me. Also, it feels so stiff sometimes to not have one of those three words as the beginning of a sentence.

6. Don't have the guy saves girl cliché. Why ever not? Come on, honestly, what girl doesn't secretly want to be swept off their feet and saved by a knight in shining armor, however unrealistic that actually is?!? I think it's sweet in stories--the perfect fairytale, but I do agree it would get old fast, so I would try not to overdo it or get to cheesy!

 

7. Romance. I like romance in moderation (read about that HERE), but I do hope to have a few novels with NONE! *Appalled gasps from the crowd* I know! A YA book with no romance, pretty rare, am I right?!?? XD

 

     
     Because, guys, why are we constantly encouraging this? People, especially teens, who are still young, don't need significant others to validate them, or at least they shouldn't, goodness!

8. Don't open your book with your MC waking up. I get this one, it can get old, cliché, and just plain boring. But I think that if done right this could be an awesome way of introducing the world your character is in.

 

    
     So in the end, I not only to break some of YA's unspoken rules, but I also hope to break my English Teachers' rules! Maybe I should send them copies of my books when they're publish, or dedicate a novel to them. It would go something like this:

Dear 8th through 12th grade English teachers I had,
YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE!  

 

THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. *Daydreams*

 

 

What writing rules do you hope to break?

 

 

Happy Writing,