The cookie says… Tools

Tools Not Rules
There is no One True Path

For every “rule” you can name, I can point out successful writers who follow it, and successful writers who flout it. Kipling told us the truth: Every single one of them is right!

When someone tells you what you must do, they’re only telling you what they think they must do! And they may not be thinking at all. They may only be repeating a “rule” that somebody else told them. Or they may be telling you what works for them. Or what worked once for them. Or what they hope will work for them. Or…

My approach is Tools, Not Rules. A Tool is something you might try. A Rule is something you must use. It’s good to learn Tools. Learn lots of Tools! It’s okay to treat a Tool as a Rule if you’re comfortable with it and like the results. But it’s just a Tool. Be ready to set it aside and pick up another Tool if things don’t seem to be working.

And please think twice before you tell other writers that there’s a Rule they must follow.