No rules

W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham said, "There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."

I would change that a little bit: "Fortunately, no one knows what they are."

If I were to compose my own three rules for novelists, they might be something like:

1. Time should move only in one direction, from past to present.

2. The good guys must always win.

3. It should always be clear to the reader what's going on.

But if my three rules, or any three rules, were followed, many of the greatest novels, including many of my own favorites, would have never been written. Sometimes backstories are necessary. Sometimes heroes must die, or at least take their lumps.  Sometimes early confusion in a novel makes the clarity at the end sweeter.

Children need rules. Drivers need rules. Banks need rules. Writers don't need rules. This is what leads to creativity and originality.  Some novelists write books without chapters. Some have sentences that go on for pages. Some have stories that jump back and forth in time. Some kill off their main character in the middle of the story. Some of these efforts please readers and/or critics. Some don't. That judgment, not adherence to any rules, ultimately determines quality.