If you’re trying to figure out HOW you should be writing (plotter vs. pantser, how and when to create characters, etc.), you need to read this post from Sacha Black.
I love reading blogs written by other writers, editors, publishers and general creative bods. I particularly love reading blogs on ‘writing’ and how to write better. That’s why in my own blog I like to explore the lessons I’m learning as I progress on my journey to be a writer.
But there’s a snag. In reading all those posts, without realising, I got myself caught up in thinking I should be doing something a certain way. Using a character template for example, and then getting caught up in which specific template I should use, whether I should be using one for scenes or settings, having to outline, or not outline, style of note taking, being a pantser or a plotter, editing as I go or writing to the end and then editing… the options are endless and I wrapped myself up in a big knotty ball of stress trying to figure out which was the…
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North of Andover 
I’m always intrigued by people’s relation to writing rules. That is, rules for how one should write. The way I see it, the rules are there to guide you until you understand them and the reason behind them. You can of course chose whether to stick with them or not, but regardless of whether you do or not I feel it’s important that you understand the reasoning behind them.
Why does this rule tell me to do it in this way? Why is that important?
I think those are what matters most when it comes to rules. They’re not there for you to blindly follow, but to help you understand what you’re doing.
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I actually wrote a semi-related article for Mythic Scribes that went up just the other day. Am I allowed to link it here, or would it be rude of me to promote my own postings in comments like this?
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Go ahead and post it; I don’t mind at all.
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Here it is then: http://mythicscribes.com/miscellaneous/understanding-how-readers-read/
It’s basically about how there’s a lot of talk about rules for writing, but not nearly as much about trying to understand how the words transform into stories in the mind of the readers.
Judging by the comments I’m not sure how well I got the point across, so don’t hesitate to ask if something’s unclear. 🙂
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