Yuffie's Writing How-To's

A Reminder

I've gotten dozens of messages over the course of this guide asking whether some component of their story is "okay" or something they were thinking of doing is "all right" to do. I want to remind all you how-to readers of a few important points:

I am a human being, not a god. I can make mistakes. I can be wrong. I'm not the final law on writing. If I figure something out about writing, I share it with you, but you should take it with a grain of salt. If you don't agree with something I say, you don't have to follow it.

This writing guide (and any writing guide, for that matter) is not fact. It's opinion. It's not some hard-and-fast law carved into stone. Nothing about writing is. The things outlined in this guide are guidelines. That means they don't fit every story situation. They're just generalizations. Every statement I make in this guide (except this one) has exceptions and loopholes. It's up to you to decide whether a certain element of your story is one such exception or loophole.

You can write whatever and however you want. Don't ask me for permission to do something with your own story. If you want to do it, do it! If you feel there's a better option, do that instead! If you want my opinion on something, I'll be happy to share it, but don't ask me for permission to do something with your story.

This guide only shares what I figure out about writing as it applies to my own stories. That may be completely different for you. If you're interested in hearing my iinsights about writing (as it applies to me), then feel free to read this guide! But by no means do you have to adhere to the things I say in this guide.

Note that this applies to ALL writing guides, not just mine. Pick and choose the points you personally agree with from a wide variety of sources to construct your own "doctrine" or guidelines about writing. This is one such source you're welcome to pull ideas from.