an unpopular opinion about # writing

1/ if i were to give any advice to a writer just starting out its to not listen to most of the writing rules you see out here. i see more and more gatekeeping for writing that i dont see anywhere else and it bothers me

2/ no one gatekeeps other arts *like they do* with writing. sure, there's rules for them all but writing is a whole other animal. you HAVE to have an editor. you CANT use adverbs or you'll look like a FOOL. you NEED to format it this EXACT WAY or no one will bother to read it

3/ Hubert Selby Jr wrote Requiem for a Dream with NO punctuation and everyone had their own accent. it was amazing.

4/ jrr tolkien wrote like 400 chapters about trees and its one of the best novels of all time.

5/ i see all these writers gatekeeping what makes you a writer: you need to be published, self publishing doesnt count. you need to have an editor or your book sucks. you need to proofread 4898902 times by yourself with a bottle of whiskey

6/ fuck that you know what makes your novel good? YOU WROTE IT. i dont care if there's a missing comma or you forgot to use end quotes

7/ you wrote a shitload of words into a coherent story? congratulations. youre an author.

8/ write a three sentence chapter. make a different POV every chapter. that weird accent you want your character to have? DO IT. writing is art, stop trying to force it into a box of arbitrary, outdated rules. that's how you discourage new writers.