Overread
Searching for a flower
There are no "rules" in most areas of creative arts. What there are is guidelines and conventions as well as theories.
As such they only work by reading the "rule" and ALSO the justification behind that rule. To not just read the title of the theory but the information that goes with it. By understanding this you can come to realise why some "rules" are suggested guidelines, esp to newer writers. You can see the easy to fall into pitfalls, or understand why certain things are done a certain way to achieve an effect.
Once you understand that you can better see if those guidelines line up to your writing or not. It might be that you can "break" several rules by following other ones, or by understanding the limitations and problems and making use of them or overcoming them in another means.
It's also important to realise that there is concept of perfection. There is no steady linear progression from bad to good that takes place in creative arts. There's good, there's bad and there's a VAST mess in the middle (which is where most things are). Furthermore its not just on the merits of technical writing and method that something becomes popular (and by extension starts to impact upon the popular theories and rules of the time as to what can be viable to be published). Marketing, market awareness, other publications, real world events, chance, price, where its sold, title, the front cover, the blurb, conventions, drama/politics around the writer/work etc...
You can bet that when Harry Potter started to become big publisher were chasing other similar works; for a period of time that style of book was what they were after. It would start to define guidelines that would be advised to writers and which would be on the thoughts of publishers when considering what to work with.
Not self publishing has blown those gates wide open ,but they are still there, they are still a viable route in. Furthermore self publishing doesn't get around the fact that there are likely many outstanding books that never become popular; which might only decades after their author dies; or which might never get read by more than a handful of people.
It's darn complicated and tricky to navigate, but I'd stand by the view that each time you're told a theory or rule - read up on it and understand WHY it is what it is. Then make your choices.
As such they only work by reading the "rule" and ALSO the justification behind that rule. To not just read the title of the theory but the information that goes with it. By understanding this you can come to realise why some "rules" are suggested guidelines, esp to newer writers. You can see the easy to fall into pitfalls, or understand why certain things are done a certain way to achieve an effect.
Once you understand that you can better see if those guidelines line up to your writing or not. It might be that you can "break" several rules by following other ones, or by understanding the limitations and problems and making use of them or overcoming them in another means.
It's also important to realise that there is concept of perfection. There is no steady linear progression from bad to good that takes place in creative arts. There's good, there's bad and there's a VAST mess in the middle (which is where most things are). Furthermore its not just on the merits of technical writing and method that something becomes popular (and by extension starts to impact upon the popular theories and rules of the time as to what can be viable to be published). Marketing, market awareness, other publications, real world events, chance, price, where its sold, title, the front cover, the blurb, conventions, drama/politics around the writer/work etc...
You can bet that when Harry Potter started to become big publisher were chasing other similar works; for a period of time that style of book was what they were after. It would start to define guidelines that would be advised to writers and which would be on the thoughts of publishers when considering what to work with.
Not self publishing has blown those gates wide open ,but they are still there, they are still a viable route in. Furthermore self publishing doesn't get around the fact that there are likely many outstanding books that never become popular; which might only decades after their author dies; or which might never get read by more than a handful of people.
It's darn complicated and tricky to navigate, but I'd stand by the view that each time you're told a theory or rule - read up on it and understand WHY it is what it is. Then make your choices.