When I do teach writing, I try to make the point that what I'm laying out are guidelines, and that they are infinitely flexible. That the power of writing lies in the skill of the writer, not in adherence to rules.
You're right on, of course. When I teach it, because students tend to want rules and instructions and secret handshakes, I try to give them a general set of "If you do this well and understand how it works, you have a pretty good chance of writing a decent piece" techniques, then add that once they've mastered these, then they're free to break the "rules." Rules are usually about things that are easy to do badly and hard to do well. That's where I think POV became locked in cement in so many writers' minds. It's hard to write good omniscient, and it's hard to shift POV's effectively, so that became "never do it at all."
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mmmag
no subject
Date: 2006-05-04 08:12 am (UTC)You're right on, of course. When I teach it, because students tend to want rules and instructions and secret handshakes, I try to give them a general set of "If you do this well and understand how it works, you have a pretty good chance of writing a decent piece" techniques, then add that once they've mastered these, then they're free to break the "rules." Rules are usually about things that are easy to do badly and hard to do well. That's where I think POV became locked in cement in so many writers' minds. It's hard to write good omniscient, and it's hard to shift POV's effectively, so that became "never do it at all."