No Rules Writing
I’ve always had an intrinsic respect for Divine Order and Natural Law alongside an equally innate disrespect for some of the man-made rules that don’t seem to make any sense to me.
It’s hardly surprising that this was the cause of quite a few issues during my growing up years!
I simply didn’t respond to the “… because I say so” reason that school teachers often gave when I genuinely wanted to know “why?” I should do something in a certain way.
A Few Exceptions
With experience I’ve learnt to follow Divine Order as my highest authority and respect the importance of regulations to guide the different facets of everyday life.
Over the years I’ve successfully applied this more mature relationship with convention and found my peace with rules and abiding by them.
Yet for me there will always be a few exceptions, especially when it comes to creative expression and specifically to writing.
No Rules
This is because breaking the rules that govern the creative arts can be completely liberating and is often a significant characteristic of the early stages of creation.
I’ve found that private journal writing with a “no rules” approach, for example, directly benefits my professional project writing.
When I’m writing in my journal, I love breaking all the rules of grammar, spelling and punctuation.
My sentences sometimes last a whole page and paragraph breaks only appear when a shift in topic or mood truly warrants one.
Expansive Freedom
This creates a sense of expansive freedom that provides a fresh energy for me to draw on when it’s time to do what I call project writing like crafting some copy for an online class or writing a new blog.
Then I actively enjoy the creative discipline of crafting my words to reflect my message as accurately as possible and respecting the guidelines for effective communication.
It’s amazing how energizing a few “no rules” writing sessions can be!
So if you feel that your writing could do with an invigorating boost, perhaps it’s time to give yourself permission to break a few rules and see what shows up on the page as a result?
What are your thoughts and feelings about the idea of “no rules writing”? Please share your comments below.
from your description I now realise I use no rules in my journal as well. letting the words flow onto the page is a very freeing and inspiring way to write.
Indeed it is Jeanine!Thanks for sharing your realization that it’s an approach you’re using already. Enjoy 🙂
I love the idea of respect for Divine order and natural law, with disrespect for man made rules, and I couldn’t agree more. There is an innate freedom that comes when one is able to integrate the two, and i love the idea of free flowing writing with no respect for rules or grammar. thank you for your blogs which are always inspiring to me.
That’s great to hear Daphne, and yes there is an innate freedom when the two are integrated. I’d love it if ALL man-made rules reflected Divine Order and Natural Law! Have fun with your “no rules” freedom and thank you for letting me know that you find my blogs inspiring. It’s inspiring for me to know that!
I thank you, sometimes no rules do come into the picture, especially in writing and I suppose that may be the reason I have liked any experiences having to do with writing. I am a mother of four, in a creative way divine order is what I practiced during that time and believe it was very very successful. On the other hand, think about if we had not order; hence, brings a realization for order/rules. And so, I believe in them, since I have also found without them things can become quite uncreative (I created a new term, uncreative).
Thank you for sharing your view Catherine and you’ve made an important point. When it comes to creativity, it’s certainly the case that some kind of limitation (rules, boundaries, deadlines…) often serves to focus creative energy; so what often starts as a chaotic jumble of ideas finds it’s way into finished form.
Alongside this, however, sometimes we need to set ourselves free to discover new possibilities – as the saying goes, we need to be prepared to lose sight of the shore to discover new lands!
Thanks again Julia for the lovely reminders of flow and creativity that do find their way into our lives!
Thank you Susan – yes indeed!