Here's the most common exchange I've identified on DD:
NewUser: Here's the rule.
SomeoneWithExperience: No, it's not.
NewUser: Yes, it is.
SomeoneWithExperience: No, and here are examples.
NewUser: Those are pros. The rules are different for them.
SomeoneWithExperience: Here are examples of amateur writers doing it successfully.
NewUser: Those are exceptions.
We've seen it on everything:
"You can't use 'we see.'"
"You can't use passive verbs."
"You can't use songs/camera angles/asides."
"You can't get an agent without having connections."
"You can't sell a script that's more than 120 pages."
"You can't sell your first script."
"You can't put a picture in your script/on the cover."
"You can't use anything but this one exact font."
Etc, etc, etc.
I'm going to get pedantic for a minute.
There are no exceptions to a rule.
If there's an exception? The rule isn't true.
"But what about the saying, 'the exception proves the rule?'"
Glad you asked. The saying actually is using the word "prove" to mean "test." What it means is, when you see a seeming exception to a rule, that's an excellent way to see if the rule is true or not.
Scientists use this principle all the time. Find an anomalous result; test it to see if the rule needs to be modified, or if it's not anomalous after all.
But you can't have a rule, and have exceptions to it.
An actual exception disproves a rule.
So please, please, please... When someone points out that some long held belief you have is actually not true, and backs it up with examples, learn from it. Accept it. Move on.
And if you absolutely can't learn from it because you're sure that you, the amateur, you know better than all the people who have experience in the field... At least have the decency to shut the hell up.
NewUser: Here's the rule.
SomeoneWithExperience: No, it's not.
NewUser: Yes, it is.
SomeoneWithExperience: No, and here are examples.
NewUser: Those are pros. The rules are different for them.
SomeoneWithExperience: Here are examples of amateur writers doing it successfully.
NewUser: Those are exceptions.
We've seen it on everything:
"You can't use 'we see.'"
"You can't use passive verbs."
"You can't use songs/camera angles/asides."
"You can't get an agent without having connections."
"You can't sell a script that's more than 120 pages."
"You can't sell your first script."
"You can't put a picture in your script/on the cover."
"You can't use anything but this one exact font."
Etc, etc, etc.
I'm going to get pedantic for a minute.
There are no exceptions to a rule.
If there's an exception? The rule isn't true.
"But what about the saying, 'the exception proves the rule?'"
Glad you asked. The saying actually is using the word "prove" to mean "test." What it means is, when you see a seeming exception to a rule, that's an excellent way to see if the rule is true or not.
Scientists use this principle all the time. Find an anomalous result; test it to see if the rule needs to be modified, or if it's not anomalous after all.
But you can't have a rule, and have exceptions to it.
An actual exception disproves a rule.
So please, please, please... When someone points out that some long held belief you have is actually not true, and backs it up with examples, learn from it. Accept it. Move on.
And if you absolutely can't learn from it because you're sure that you, the amateur, you know better than all the people who have experience in the field... At least have the decency to shut the hell up.
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