It's been said before, and I agree with it, that they're not rules, they're guidelines.

And I like to think I follow them most of the time (it's easier to break them once you know what they are).

The ones that I think are the most important are:

Honest POV; show not tell; start a story where the story begins (ie not with back story or events leading up to it); write in waves of susopension/action; and write as well as you can.

Good writing is apt writing, as my old english teacher used to say. Write what needs to be written; no more, no less.

And for me that's about it (aside from obvious rules, like punctuation, grammar, spelling, tense and what have you).

The most important thing is to have a good story to tell. Get that then do your best to tell it naturally and well.

When you study a piece of writing I think it's dead easy to over analyse and over complicate things - and that can be quite intimidating. From what I've read of yours, and from what you've said, I'd say you were a good writer and you're probably worrying more than you need to. (Easy for me to say, innit!)

That's what I think anyway!

Nik.

Cheers, Nik.

Hmm, i like these couple of nuggets:

Write what needs to be written

tell it naturally

Your old English teacher sounds spot on. Cornerstones pointed out a lot of irrelevant waffle (characters 'chat'that i'd written, so i've cut a lot of that out during the re-write - and i've been amazed at how much i can dispense with.

I might put Write what needs to be writtenon a post-it and leave it out on my desk...

Casey

<Added>

oops, random smilie

No probs.

Yeah he was a great teacher. That 'good writing is apt writing' has really stuck with me. (The rest is mine though - not letting him take credit for those little gems! )

The funny thingh is that it can sound so easy, when nothing could be further from the truth.

Nik.

... And you get to a point where you're not consciously applying guidelines anymore than you'd consciously drive a car.

The best writing always appears to be effortless, and this echoes what Nik's saying.
Becca.