The Rules of Writing: The 7 Groups of Writers They Apply To

The Rules of Writing are a hardy perennial of the writing world, from Mark Twain's 'When you catch an adjective, kill it' to Elmore Leonard's 'Never open a book with weather'.

Something new writers find confusing are the vast number of writers who break The Rules.  'But,' they say when you point out an error in their writing, 'Dickens starts Bleak House with the weather, and it's one of the most famous opening passages in literature.'

Well, yes. And you'll find many multi-published, mega-successful writers who proudly proclaim that they have no idea what The Rules are and they never took a writing class in their life.

The truth is, The Rules of Writing don't apply to everyone. Here's my list of who they do and don't apply to.

1.  You wrote something, it got published.  People bought it and asked for more.  You wrote something else, it got published, people bought it.  This cycle has been repeated several - possibly hundreds - of times.  
The Rules DON'T apply to you - why should they?  You're doing just fine without knowing them. *

2.  You wrote something, it didn't get published, so you published it yourself and no one bought it, including your mum.
The Rules DO apply to you - go forth and learn them.

3. You wrote something, but got stuck with finishing it because you couldn't think what to write next. The Rules DO apply to you - you'll find writing easier if you learn them.

4. You wrote something, it got published.  People bought it and asked for more.  You wrote something else, and then got stuck.
The Rules DO apply to you - but concentrate on those relating to structure and character to get you un-stuck.

5.  You studied The Rules, wrote something, it got published.  People bought it and asked for more. You wrote something else, it got published, people bought it and asked for more.  Repeat.  Now you find The Rules restrictive.
The Rules DON'T apply to you - break with impunity.

6. You wrote something, it didn't get published, so you published it yourself, got your friends to buy it, had a massive marketing campaign and did well, despite the 1 and 2 star reviews.  So you wrote something else, and no one bought it, not even your mum.
The Rules DO apply to you - good marketing doesn't make you a good writer. Go forth and learn them.

7.  You studied The Rules, wrote something, it didn't get published. You studied The Rules even harder, wrote something else, got stuck.
The Rules DON'T apply to you - for the time being.  Write freely, write whatever you like without that imaginary editor/teacher sitting on your shoulder.

*If you're in group 1, I'd suggest that you're either an inveterate reader and have absorbed The Rules by osmosis, or you're incredibly lucky, like winning the Writing Lottery.

I'm sure there are other groups of writers to whom The Rules do and don't apply, and of course, writers can move between groups over time.