I want and need to learn the writer's craft. I guess so I can know what's out there, what sins I am currently commiting, and what the possibilites that I haven't even imagined are. That said, I'm often afraid to look too closely at the 'do and don't's, afraid they might freeze the muse, does that make sense?
I look at it more as a balancing act somewhere between being conscious rules exist and ignoring them completely.
No, really. Worrying about the rules too much CAN stifle the muse, especially during the rough draft phase, but there are also times, particularly during editing, when rules can also free the muse because they do help us communicate more precisely what we're trying to say. This is all about being able to communicate the story we're trying to tell in the best manner possible, isn't it?
So it comes back to a balancing act between letting worry about possible rules one might not already know stop the process and acknowledging that once one has the story down in words there might be better ways to say certain things in it. That's where a great editor comes in handy.
