Form

There is a saying, "First you learn form, then you break from form." It means that you need to learn the basics. You need to learn the advanced stuff. You need to learn all of the collected knowledge of what has already been done. It is only after all of that learning that you can begin to do something different.

If you're anything like I used to be, you probably want to punch me in the face. I wouldn't blame you if you did. Because a part of me still disagrees with that. When my teachers gave me this advice, I told them, "Why do I have to learn what other people did in order to write? I've figured out plenty of stuff on my own without the aid of long-since-dead Greeks and I can keep doing so." If you think that's true for you, I won't argue. You're right. If you can figure stuff out without other people's help, then you don't need their help. It's also true that when you figure things out on your own, you understand them better and believe them more thoroughly.

However, the other side does have validity, even though it is often poorly-worded. The other side is that studying other thinkers can save you time. If it took you 6 months to start with a vague concept and evolve it into a truth or fact of writing, that's great. However, if you read the works of people who interest you, or if you go out and search for interesting people, you might save yourself five and a half months by reading that very truth that has already been discovered and clarified a long time ago.

If you have a method that works for you, I will never say that you should do something different. However, if you're already out doing your own thing, but you're the only person who thinks your writing is good, consider studying and learning about your form before trying to break away from it. Form has a lot of good information that professionals take for granted.