There's murder in the air
Laura Anne Gilman suricattus has some thoughtful advice on her Practical Meerkat blog over on the Book View Cafe about writers following rules, especially the one "Murder your darlings."
http://blog.bookviewcafe.com/2011/08/26/practical-meerkat%E2%80%99s-52-bits-of-useful-info-for-young-and-old-writers-week-34/#more-17915
An important paragraph:
Rules are helpful, oh yes. They’re incredibly useful. But they’re tools, not masters. Rules should be learned and internalized, not so that you can break them (another bit of oft-touted advice) but so that they become so much a part of your writing muscle that you adapt your work around them as you write.
http://blog.bookviewcafe.com/2011/08/26/practical-meerkat%E2%80%99s-52-bits-of-useful-info-for-young-and-old-writers-week-34/#more-17915
An important paragraph:
Rules are helpful, oh yes. They’re incredibly useful. But they’re tools, not masters. Rules should be learned and internalized, not so that you can break them (another bit of oft-touted advice) but so that they become so much a part of your writing muscle that you adapt your work around them as you write.