Should you stick to rules when writing or experiment? This is a question many writers ask, and most of the time, they tend to stick to the rules and even discriminate against those who don't. I will try to explain why experimenting is so important for literature. 

Writing is a creative process that will work differently for each writer; something that creates wonders for one person can hinder your imagination or focus. The "rules" in writing are there to help you along the way, not to limit you; learn them, but do not push or limit yourself to stick to them. The existing forms or techniques are bound to prove fruitless over time, and as the times are transforming quickly in today’s world, the tools of literature should as well. Remember what John Barth said in his essay “The Literature of Exhaustion”: “It suggests the view that intellectual and literary history has been Baroque, and has pretty well exhausted the possibilities of novelty. His fictions are not only footnotes to imaginary texts but postscripts to the real corpus of literature.’’ (Barth, John; The Literature of Exhaustion; pg.13)

Barth here talks about the exhaustion of originality in literature. “Everything that can be said, has already been said,” in other words. But then again, he also claimed that the novel’s time is up, but 40 years later we’re still reading and writing novels. That being said, the novel as a genre is probably the most important example of our subject. Do you recall, or have heard of how the novel became to be a major genre? Did you know that if Cervantes had been too scared to experiment, or fail, we might not have novels now? 

In the 17th century, the major genres of literature were epics and poetry, and using prose was not really a thing yet. Though also during these times, people strayed away from the noble champions and heroes of epics and became more interested in the common people. In Don Quixote, Cervantes not only broke the stigma around prose writing but also mixed into it every literary form and technique that existed and created a whole new genre: the novel. Experimenting introduces new and original possibilities to the imaginations of both writers and readers; if everyone just wrote with the established forms and ‘’stock’’ rules of writing; we would have nothing interesting to read. 

The reason most writers stick to what has already been tried and tested is the fear of failure. In the world of machinery, we’ve become more intolerable of any kind of error and failure became our worst fear; although we often forgot the historical truth that we can’t improve, without taking risks. And please remember, your sales numbers do not determine the quality or success of your work, and being a “best-seller” in such-and-such a magazine does not mean you are a great, immortal writer.

Lastly, this is where the reviewers come in. Insulting someone’s months and months of hard work, scolding the writers for every little mistake they have done, is not useful. This does not mean that you should give 5 stars to everything you read and say “it was amazing!” The key here is constructive criticism; instead of humiliating the writer for “publishing a mess like this”, point out what they lacked and what needs to be improved: it is literally the definition of your job to do so. And to the common reader who does reviews in order to get free books, if you do not give the writer something constructive in return, anything they can work on improving, they are going to stop providing you with free copies. The only reason they want reviewers to read their book is to see what many different perspectives will think of it, and what they suggest to improve in the future.

In short, do not be afraid of experimenting or failing, not every word you type has to be a huge success. It is okay to fail until you find your own unique voice. Be more tolerable of errors and do not discourage writers. Be honest, point out the mistakes they’ve made but always include ways of improving their work; be constructive, not destructive. Experimenting expands our horizon and provides us with new, unique possibilities; cherish them.