What's the Point of Writing Rules?

Summary

In this unscripted video, the speaker discusses the flexibility of writing rules in both fiction and visual art. Due to power outages, they can't reference their notes and decide to explore an impromptu topic inspired by recent conversations. The speaker emphasizes that writing rules are meant to facilitate creativity, not restrict it. They highlight the importance of understanding why rules exist, suggesting that knowing when and how to break them can help achieve specific effects. The video also touches on the speaker's personal journey with their novel and growing interest in visual art.

Takeaways

• 📚 Writing rules are meant to help you, not restrict you.
• 🖼️ Rules in art (visual or written) are there to help you achieve your vision, not to limit your creativity.
• 🎨 Just like in visual art, where proportions can be altered for effect, writing rules can be bent or broken to serve the story.
• 📖 Understanding why a rule exists is crucial before deciding to break it.
• 🖋️ Filtering (e.g., 'she heard', 'he saw') creates distance between the reader and the character, but can be useful if that's the intended effect.
• 🎥 Breaking rules can lead to innovative and compelling work, as seen in some modern films and novels.
• 🧠 Developing a clear vision for your work is essential for knowing when and how to break rules.
• 👥 Wide audience appeal often aligns with well-structured fiction, but some successful works defy this norm.
• 🚀 Subverting expectations can make a story stand out, but it should be done with purpose.
• ✏️ Rules should be flexible tools that adapt to the needs of your story, not rigid constraints.

Q & A

Why was the video unscripted?

The video was unscripted due to power interruptions and the speaker having an inspiration for a different subject.

What is the speaker's usual approach to creating videos?

The speaker usually scripts their videos thoroughly to ensure they convey information clearly and effectively.

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic is the importance and flexibility of writing rules, and understanding when and why to follow or break them.

Why does the speaker emphasize learning the rules before breaking them?

The speaker emphasizes learning the rules to understand their purpose and how they help achieve specific effects in writing.

What example does the speaker give to explain the concept of 'filtering' in writing?

The speaker explains filtering as using words like 'he smelled' or 'she heard' to describe senses, which can create distance between the reader and the character.

Why might a writer choose to use filtering despite the general rule to avoid it?

A writer might choose to use filtering to create a sense of distance or separation, which can be important for certain effects or character perspectives.

What is the speaker's current personal writing project?

The speaker has been working on a novel for about six to seven years and is currently in the final stages of completing it.

What new interest has the speaker developed recently?

The speaker has developed an increased interest in visual art, including drawing, painting, and learning to use Procreate.

How does the speaker relate the concept of rules in visual art to writing?

The speaker compares the rules in visual art, such as proportions, to writing rules, explaining that both sets of rules are there to help creators achieve their desired effects.

What is the speaker's advice for writers regarding rules?

The speaker advises writers to understand the purpose of the rules and to be flexible with them, using them to facilitate their creative vision rather than seeing them as strict restrictions.

Outlines

00:00

🔥 Deviation from Script and Unscripted Inspiration

The speaker introduces an unscripted video due to power outages and a sudden inspiration for a different topic. Despite usually scripting videos to ensure clarity and quality, they discuss recent events and conversations with writers about the flexibility of writing rules. The speaker also mentions their ongoing novel project and newfound interest in visual art.

05:01

🎬 Breaking Rules in Creative Works

The speaker explores the concept of breaking rules in fiction, drawing parallels with modern surrealist films like those from A24, which often deviate from traditional storytelling structures. They emphasize that rules in art are meant to help creators achieve their vision, not restrict them. Understanding why rules exist is crucial for effectively breaking them.

10:03

📚 Flexibility in Writing Rules

The discussion continues with examples of when to break writing rules, such as using filtering words like 'felt' or 'heard' to create distance. The speaker explains that while rules generally enhance storytelling, there are times when breaking them can create the desired effect. They highlight the importance of understanding the purpose behind rules to know when and how to break them effectively.

15:04

🎨 Rules as Tools in Visual and Literary Arts

The speaker draws a parallel between rules in visual art and writing, emphasizing that rules are tools to help artists and writers achieve their desired effects. For instance, rules about proportions in drawing help create realistic characters, but breaking them can produce unique and engaging results. Similarly, writing rules guide structure but can be bent to enhance creativity and impact.

20:04

📈 Navigating Commercial and Personal Goals in Writing

The speaker discusses the balance between following rules for commercial success and breaking them for personal creative goals. They acknowledge that while many writers aim for wide appeal, breaking rules can still lead to popular and impactful work. Understanding the intended effect and audience helps determine when to adhere to or deviate from conventional rules.

Keywords

💡Synchronicity

Synchronicity refers to the occurrence of events that appear meaningfully related but do not have a discernible causal connection. In the video, the speaker mentions a series of synchronous events, such as extreme weather and power outages, that influenced the change in the video topic. This concept sets the stage for the unscripted nature of the discussion.

💡Rules

Rules in the context of the video refer to the guidelines or conventions that writers and artists often follow to create structured and appealing work. The speaker discusses how these rules serve to facilitate creativity rather than restrict it, emphasizing the importance of understanding rules to effectively break them when necessary to achieve specific artistic goals.

💡Filtering

Filtering is a writing technique where sensory experiences are described through a character's perspective using words like 'saw', 'felt', 'heard', etc. The video discusses how avoiding filtering can create a closer connection between the reader and the character, while deliberate use of filtering can establish distance when needed.

💡Commercial Fiction

Commercial fiction refers to works designed to appeal to a wide audience, often following established narrative structures and conventions to maximize enjoyment and marketability. The speaker contrasts this with more niche or avant-garde works, explaining how rule-following tends to be more prevalent in commercial fiction to ensure broad appeal.

💡Vision

Vision in the video refers to an artist's or writer's clear concept of what they want to achieve with their work. The speaker emphasizes the importance of having a vision to understand when and why to follow or break rules, and how it guides the creative process to produce the desired effect.

💡Hero's Journey

The Hero's Journey is a common narrative structure involving a hero who goes on an adventure, faces and overcomes a crisis, and returns transformed. The video references this structure to explain how rules can help create familiar and satisfying story arcs that resonate with audiences.

💡Subvert

To subvert means to undermine or overturn conventional expectations. In the video, the speaker talks about subverting rules to create unique and impactful work, highlighting how some successful works gain popularity precisely by deviating from established norms in surprising ways.

💡Polarizing

Polarizing describes something that causes strong and divergent opinions. The video mentions polarizing works, like certain films from A24, which some people love and others hate. This term underscores the risk and reward of breaking rules in art and fiction to create distinctive and memorable experiences.

💡Distance

Distance in writing refers to the emotional or psychological separation between the reader and the characters or events in the story. The video discusses how techniques like filtering can create distance intentionally, depending on the effect the writer wants to achieve, such as conveying a character's detachment.

💡Structure

Structure refers to the organization and framework of a story. The video highlights the importance of understanding narrative structures, such as the placement of key plot points, to create coherent and engaging stories. It also explores how intentional deviations from traditional structures can enhance storytelling.

Highlights

The video is unscripted due to unforeseen circumstances like extreme heat and power outages.

The creator usually scripts videos thoroughly to provide the best possible information.

Inspiration for the video topic came from conversations with writers and personal experiences.

The main topic of the video is about writing rules and when it's appropriate to break them.

The creator has been working on a novel for about seven years and is nearing completion.

Discussions include the purpose of writing rules and how they help bring a vision to life.

Importance of learning rules before breaking them to understand their purpose.

Example given about filtering in writing and how it can create distance between the reader and character.

Rules in writing are not rigid laws but guidelines to help achieve specific effects.

Flexibility with rules is essential to facilitate creative goals.

Comparisons made between writing and visual art rules, emphasizing the importance of context.

The creator shares their journey of developing a vision for their work over time.

Emphasizes the significance of understanding the desired effect of a scene or book.

Encourages writers to think about the reasons for breaking rules and the effects they aim to create.

Upcoming videos about editing and different story arc structures are in progress.

Transcripts

hey guys I hope you're all doing really

really well today's video is going to be

a little bit different it's different

from what I had planned as well so we

are going off script on this video so um

basically it was just a synchronicity of

events where it's extremely hot here as

well as extremely stormy and the power

keeps sort of blipping off and on and

it's impossible for me to reference my

notes to do the video that I was going

to do but also I just happen to have a

sort of inspiration for a different

subject for a video so we are going to

go completely off script today which we

may end up finding to be highly

regrettable so I apologize for that I

usually script my videos extremely

thoroughly to make sure that I'm careful

about what I say that I'm saying things

in the best possible way to bring you

guys the best possible information

because I really want you guys to

succeed and to comprehend what we're

talking about but today I don't think it

will matter too much I hope um I hope

that by not having a script this video

is so coherent and enjoyable we are in a

different location as well like I said

it's extremely extremely hot and the

power keeps going sort of just on and

off so it's just it's extremely hot so I

apologize for that I'm sure I look curly

and sweaty at the same time but anyway

so today the subject that I was really

inspired to talk about it sort of came

about through several different things

so it was partly conversations that I've

had with writers recently

about whether they can do certain things

or or why some writers can do certain

things that they've been told not to do

and what to do in situations that are

particularly tricky when it comes to

what we call rules or or requirements of

of fiction writing the other reason that

this has been on my mind specifically is

because I have been working on a novel

for a long time if you're on my Pat

especially if you're on my patreon

Discord then you probably probably

already know that I've been writing a

novel for an extremely long time about 6

years maybe that's not an extremely long

time depends on how you think about it

but it's been a while uh it's been a

percentage of my life at this point that

I've been working on this novel it's

probably actually coming up on seven

years and I'm coming down the home

stretch so I'm coming down the home

stretch with this novel uh don't get too

excited about news there probably won't

be any real news about it for for a few

months at the very least but I am coming

down the home stretch with that and I do

want to take you guys on my journey with

that towards um trying to get an agent

trying to get published all of that

whether or not it happens you know if it

may not go um according to plan or in

the most ideal way but I do want to

bring you guys Along on that Journey as

well in the future but um having

finished not finished but coming down

the home stretch starting to finish this

book um my brain just immediately wants

a new challenge and that's sort of how

um I don't know that's just sort of how

I am my brain sort of like finishes one

thing and it wants to immediately start

on a new challenge so over the last year

as I've been wrapping up working on this

book I've had an increased interest in

visual art so an interest in drawing um

uh painting learning procreate things

like that and this has nothing to do

with the channel don't worry it's not

going to become an art Channel I'm just

segueing here so because of that I've

been more um I've been consuming more

content about visual art and what really

brought these two ideas together people

asking about writing rules and people

asking about visual art is that coming

into something as a beginner so coming

into visual art as a beginner at in my

mid-30s it's it's hard you you feel like

you're constantly wondering why do I

have to do something a certain way or

why am I told constantly you know I have

to do this thing and the Shadows have to

be this way and you know people have to

be drawn in a certain way and the

proportions are a certain way and all

this all these rules all all of these

restrictions and it feels

very off at times because you feel like

you see other people creating art and

the and the art that they're creating it

it doesn't follow these rules often I

mean it often it does follow the rules

but but often it doesn't so we have a

sort of a mixed a mixed

um outcome we have art that follows most

of the rules but not some we have art

that seems to follow none of the rules

but maybe it does follow the rules and

we just aren't at a level yet where we

can see it but but regardless it brings

up all these questions about uh why do I

have to do something a certain way

what's the point what is what's the

point of of rules when we're talking

about art when we're talking about

creativity why are there these

restrictions at

all

and why I think this is a such an

important topic is because we might look

at someone's work and we might say that

they succeeded and they didn't follow

whatever Rule and and that's entirely

true fiction often breaks rules we see

many um films especially modern films we

see I I think lately we've seen a a

great increase in more surrealist films

or or just odd films that don't maybe

follow rules that we would have set up

previously and and we see that of course

in in novels as well but but with films

we're all more familiar with it but um

for example we have a24 films everybody

pretty much knows like about a24 films

and that they're very different they

feel very different the vibe is

different and and a lot of the time we

might say we don't really see the

structure in the same way or we don't

see it following rules like perhaps we

don't see it setting up rules for the

antagonist in the same way it can be

very abstract and surrealist with with

bizarre things happening seemingly out

of nowhere and they don't follow the

rules that we we've always been told

that you you know fiction needs to to to

set up a rule to or two times or three

times so that we understand how things

work and that things need to follow and

be consistent with rules but we maybe we

don't see that in in certain pieces of

fiction and the reason that these rules

are so difficult to comprehend is

because the rules are not there to

restrict you the rules are not there to

tell you what you can't do the rules are

there to help you bring your vision to

life they're they're there to help

facilitate what you are trying to

achieve and that's why in every type of

art whether we're talking about visual

art or writing or music or anything we

always we're always told to learn the

rules before you break the rules

understand the rules and then you can

subvert them later on but I think

sometimes we don't always understand

what this is even talking about what

does this even mean what do you mean we

have to learn it to break it if I can

break it why don't I just break it now

you know why why do I have to learn

something that's so hard to learn and so

frustrating to learn if I if later

you're going to turn around and say well

you don't have to always follow these

rules and the reason is that

the you have to understand not just the

rule not just not just this thing this

law chiseled into stone that you have to

have the first plot point at 20 20 to

25% that that has to happen it it's less

so to learn it as a law it's more so to

learn why it's a rule what is it

accomplishing why do we have that what

is achieved by following that most of us

have a certain thing that we want to

achieve that's maybe a little bit more

in alignment with each other so for

example maybe the vast majority of

people writing fiction hope that it will

sell pretty well they hope that they'll

have a fairly wide audience that they'll

be able to sell it you know at least to

10,000 people that average is about

10,000 we want to at least appeal to

10,000 people and most of us dream of

something a lot bigger than that so most

of us are hoping that we will appeal to

100,000 people or 500,000 people we want

to to have a bestseller we want to have

a book that's really widely injo

that's definitely not everyone's

objective I would not say personally

that that's my objective but it's an

understandable objective and a lot of

writers have that objective of appealing

to a wide

audience typically a wide audience is

going to enjoy well structured fiction

because it's similar to things that

we've experienced before it we

understand um we've all as consumers

sort of um acquired the that sort of

hero's journey as something that we we

intrinsically understand so when

something doesn't follow that we may

feel like I don't really like that or or

or it may be very polarizing like again

something surrealist something like the

a24 movies we might say it's very

polarizing some people hated one of them

and loved a different one and some

people hate all of them and some people

love all of them so it it's very

polarizing and we might not want our

work to be polarizing we might want our

work to appeal to a certain audience for

example sci-fi readers fantasy readers

but we probably don't want our work to

be polarizing as in we don't want some

people to hate it and some people to

love it we typically we looking to get

most people who like a certain thing to

like our work because of that there are

certain rules that we would follow to

make that work exciting and well-paced

and interesting and entertaining but

that's not the only

objective in one piece of work or for

everyone so for some people that's not

the goal at all like I said I wouldn't

say for me that my goal is

specifically to sell as many copies as

possible for me it's more I want to

achieve something specific that I have

in mind for this book and that's

important to me it's important to my

vision and what I want I I have a a real

clear concept of what I'm looking to

achieve when we want to appeal to a wide

audience though we need to to take that

into consideration to what that wide

audience likes and what they're looking

for but even within that work say we

have something that's pretty commercial

it may still deviate from the roles in

certain capacities at certain times

because it's trying to create a

different effect a different impact and

just because you're not following a rule

doesn't mean the the work is

automatically not commercial there's a

degree of rules we can

break where we eventually reach a point

where it's not commercial anymore we

eventually reach a point where it's

not widely or it's unlikely to be widely

enjoyed but we can break some rules and

still stay within those expectations and

still be uh entertaining in fact some

widely popular wildly popular uh fiction

of all types has broken rules and has

subverted those expectations and people

absolutely love them and they have hit

it big in the mainstream so it isn't

this black and white thing but what's

really important to understand about

rules and let's take for example a

really good example of this and this

came up recently on on patreon as well

is filtering so filtering is when you

filter through the senses of the

character so for example instead of just

stating a a a a scent or a sight or a

smell you add in the filtering word of

of he smelled she felt

Etc so the the saw felt smelled tasted

those are the filtering

words it came up on patreon where

someone was asking about that in regards

to what if something isn't on screen so

what if someone says says so what if a

situation comes up where in the

narration we want to say that uh the

character heard something that was from

another room for example and they were

asking how we can avoid filtering and we

certainly can we can make the choice to

avoid filtering in that situation and

that's completely fine and we may want

to do that for various reasons but the

point of avoiding filtering is to not

create that distance so filtering

creates distance it creates a separation

between the reader and the character we

don't want that separation which is Mo

in most cases in the majority of cases

we don't want that separation we're

trying to create a sense of almost that

the reader embodying the character in

that situation we don't want filtering

because we don't want to create that

layer of distance we just want to

describe things without filtering it

through the character's

emotions however there are situations

like for example something is happening

off screen where it makes sense to say

she heard something he heard something

because it's logical it's simple and it

makes sense we can't make that we can't

necessarily explain that the sound of

what was heard to describe what happened

so for example say in this case I

believe what happened was the character

heard someone coming home we can say

they heard the door open they heard

footsteps it's it's a little complicated

and it would be a lot simpler to just

say you know she heard her husband come

home or she heard so- and so come home

from the other room we don't have to

follow really really rigidly to the

rules so that's the segue into a bigger

reason not to follow the rules so that's

a pretty small simple explanation of why

you might not follow a

rule a more interesting scenario would

be a situation where you want to create

distance so maybe you don't want the

reader to embody this character that

closely maybe you want to create a sense

of Separation The filtering then you

might include it naturally as you write

as you work on your book because it

works with what you're trying to do it

makes sense you're trying to create a

sense of distance you might not be

consciously thinking that that's what

you're trying to do but you may still

naturally include that filtering because

you understand that you are trying to

create a sense of distance maybe the

character feels distant from themselves

so maybe the character is perceiving

things with a degree of separation from

their own body and so you want to

include filtering to enhance that and to

to make a difference between a situation

where they're feeling distant from their

body and when they're feeling close from

their body so then you want to use

filtering in that scenario the point of

these rules is to facilitate doing what

you want to do to help you facilitate

the creation of the effect that you want

to create in your work and that's why in

many videos I've talked about the

importance of having a vision of

developing a vision and a lot of us

won't have a vision right away so me

most of us some of us are are are

extremely fortunate and we get these

immense Visions sort of automatically

where where we can kind of see how we

want the whole thing to look and feel

and the vibe and we have this really

well-developed idea most of us don't

have that most of us needed to develop

our vision over time and I've talked

about in a lot of videos developing your

vision and clarifying your vision and

the reason that that's so important is

because you can't comprehend how your

work fits into the rules unless you

understand what you're trying to achieve

it starts with understanding what you're

what you're trying to accomplish what

effect you want to have how do you want

this book to feel how do you want the

reader to feel how do you want this

scene to be perceived it's it's going to

be very difficult to

say I have to always follow this

Rule and to have to sort of write that

into a law in your mind it's going to be

very difficult to say that and then

create something that has the effect

that you want because often to create an

effect we have to subvert expectations

we have to subvert those rules we have

to go against what maybe we've been

taught and it's extremely important to

be flexible in that way with the rules

but we can really only be flexible with

the rules when we understand what

they're there for and and why we have

them and what the point of them is and

so really the only thing that I wanted

to say today the message that I wanted

to bring across today is that

writing rules are there for you they're

there for you to facilitate what you

want to do the same way that when we

talk about visual art those rules are

there to help you facilitate what you

want to accomplish so for example we

might say something like a a rule for

drawing a rough rule for drawing might

be that people are so many heads

tall we're not going to sit there and

say well that means that I can't draw a

character who has a big head we see lots

of characters that have big heads we see

bigheaded cartoon characters because

it's more aesthetically interesting we

see bigheaded characters uh to create a

comedic effect or to create a a horror

effect to make it to look scary to look

uncanny we don't have to follow the rule

100% of the time it's not about creating

a law it's about helping you to create

the effect that you want to create and

most people are trying to in terms of

visual art they're trying to draw a

character that looks like a real person

or maybe they're trying to draw a

portrait of real person they want it to

look like a real person if you want it

to look like a real person then it has

to be so many heads tall according to

their age and and male female

Etc we don't have to follow those rules

when that's not what we're trying to do

when we're not trying to make a person

that feels like a real person of course

we can make their head bigger or smaller

or we can space their eyes further apart

or or we can exaggerate or eliminate a

feature we can make a person who has no

nose or no mouth because we're trying to

make something that looks weird or scary

or creepy or maybe we make the eyes huge

because we want it to be cute and I

think in visual art we understand that

inherently we understand inherently that

we can subvert those rules because we're

trying to create a certain effect but in

fiction I think that we can get way more

hung up on following the rules in a very

literal way that we can almost encode

them as law and we can't conceptualize

not following

them but there are circumstances in

every book that will not follow the

rules every single book is going to have

elements in moments situations

characters that do not follow the rules

you may intentionally do something like

for example set up a character Arc and

then not have the character actually

have the arc you may do that to create a

specific effect that you want to create

like I mentioned you might use filtering

because you intentionally want to create

a sense of distance from the from the

character and that's fine you just have

to understand what you're trying to do

the problem with rules with giving rules

and on this channel of course I am

typically much more organized and much

more rigid with things because I'm

trying to explain what the rules are but

we have to understand that when we learn

these rules we're learning something

that's going to be as widely applicable

as possible to as many situations as

possible to what most people are trying

to achieve and most people are trying to

achieve commercial fiction that has wide

appeal with realistic seeming

characters and that might not be what

you're trying to do or it might be

mostly what you're trying to do and it

might be a little thing here and there

where you want to go against a certain

structural rule or against a certain uh

writing rule for example maybe of a very

childlike character or a child character

or or a character who just is childlike

and maybe they use a ton of adjectives

and you've read you shouldn't use you

know two three adjectives back toback or

you shouldn't use so many adjectives in

a row in general but that's in general

that's because most people are trying to

write like an adult and they're trying

to write it an adult character not I

don't mean like an adult I mean you can

write a child like character like an

adult would right but but I mean you you

want to create a character who feels

like an adult and when you want to

create a character who feels like an

adult you don't want to put something in

that's going to feel like it's written

for kids or that feels childlike because

it's not what you're going

for so I have rambled on about this long

enough I think I think you guys get the

point that I'm trying to say but I just

wanted to encourage you guys to be

flexible with the rules because the

rules are there to help facilitate what

you want to do they're not there to

restrict you and if you don't want to

follow a rule think about why you don't

want to follow it think about the effect

that you're trying to create because

there is a vast difference between not

following a rule because you don't

understand it not following a rule by

accident and not following a rule

because it doesn't work with what you're

trying to achieve so anyway that is all

I wanted to say today I hope this wasn't

too miserable of a video since it was

unscripted I am working on a video about

editing which actually turned into I

think three different videos about

editing so that will be coming soon and

I still am working on the flat Arc

structure video and eventually the

negative Arc structure video it'll be a

few weeks before any of those are

remotely close to done but I am working

on all of them I hope you guys are all

doing really really well I will see you

again soon and in the meantime happy

writing

guys for