Break them or keep them?

if you have followed me for any length of time you know that my opinion on writing rules and like that is pretty strong.

Rules of writing- we hates them, precious

They have their purpose, of course, to instruct the rank beginner so that they don’t fall into crevices and crevasses. But there comes a time, dear friends, when a writer has to know when to use the rules and when to break them.

I am one of those.
After writing over a million words (that’s what the rule says!) I can say I am a real writer.

Rules of writing I have learned… and broken

1. Don’t use that, very, really, or just
2. Don’t start a sentence with an -ing word
3. Don’t repeat words
4. Don’t make POV switches
5. Don’t use adverbs/ or: exclamation points

And I could go on. There are too many “don’t do” in the land of language. You need to learn them all and follow them judiciously.

And some day, you may be able to break them and do just fine. (I used just!)