Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemurion
There's an old saying that you can do anything you want in writing so long as you do it well enough.
The rule I try to follow is not to flout convention unless I know why the convention exists, and what effect it will have to flout it.
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Very much this.
The problem with saying that you have to know the rules before you break them is that it implies that you consciously break rules to some specific effect, but this gets things in the wrong order. You write it first because it sounds right, only later do you notice that you've broken convention and then try to decide whether you can (or should try to) get away with it. Your choices in this regard get better with experience. (Well, my phrasing is the generic "you" when what I really mean is "me" - perhaps it doesn't work this way for everyone.)