Write Outside the Box!

Okay. Face it. I am far from being an expert on this business we call writing. But, on the other hand, I have been an avid, prodigious, and downright manic reader since--well, since I could read. So, let me vent. I am getting pretty frustrated with "those-who-claim-to-know" telling me I MUST adhere to The Formula when writing a romance or mystery, etc. Are you kidding me? That is beyond nonsense! So I say, loud an clear, "C'MON, WRITERS! WE GOTTA WRITE OUTSIDE THE BOX! We have to put our foot down and refuse to be hyptnotized by those who think they know what's "right" and follow our heart and our own common sense."

You want to write? Then write! Write good and satisfying stories and forget following "formulas" that demand you become robots and clones of other authors. If your story leaves the reader wanting more, then it's a good story. If your story makes the reader sigh with contentment, then again I say it's a good story. This business about writing to a dictated formula is not only emotionally and artistically crippling, it's frightening. And before you counter with the tired defense, "But where will the bookstores shelve it?" or "How can They catalog the book?" please sit back and think. I, too, once bowed at the altar of the brick-and-mortar bookstore. I once dreamed of seeing my book in Waldenbooks, B-Dalton, Borders .... But alas, Waldenbooks folded long ago. And B-Dalton? Uh, it's gone, too. Borders? Uh-uh. So ... welcome to the 21st Century, fellow writers. Say hello to on-line booksellers like Amazon and write! With a billion-plus readers out there, your story might just be the one that touches someone and leaves them closing the book with a happy sigh. Write! Write what your heart tells you to write.

Just sayin'...