Even the most seemingly open-minded of us has preconceived notions of what’s right and wrong, whether it be in the literary world or any other – but in setting out ‘rules’ for what we read, are we closing doors and shutting off our minds from new experiences?

Genres have their identifying factors, that is as it should be. How else would you even begin to define a genre? But surely those should be just that – identifiers rather than limitations.

Stylistic choices aside, there also seems to be a perception in some quarters that even the broad themes have rules – the most obvious being that romance should not stray too far into dark places and that happy ever afters should be the order of the day. What does that amount to though – boundaries only to be expected, or formulas that lean towards the bland and predictable?

I personally have to say that I do not understand the desire to know how a novel will end before you’ve even started. And I understand the authors who spell out their plot in the synopsis even less ...

Excerpt from new blog on the 'rules', who makes them, and who gets to break them here: http://torrie82.wix.com/torriemclean#...