Ignore the Rules

I don't like rules for writing.

Show don't tell.
Don't use “that.’
Shorter words over longer words.
Active voice over passive voice.

If we followed those rules, we'd all be writing like Fifth Graders.

None of the great authors stick to the rules. (Not even the ones who wrote down their own rules, like Orwell or Stephen King.)

Sometimes they tell without showing.
Sometimes they use the passive voice.
Sometimes they use five words where they could have used one.
Sometimes they use complex words rather than short words.

You don't have to stick to rules designed to help children write clearly or to appeal to people with no time to read.

I write based on how my clients speak. If they speak in short, direct sentences, that's what I write. But if they use longer, more wordy or more complex ways to express themselves, I write like that.

A book always has to be true to the author's voice.