Rule 1: Rules are for Other People!

In 1911 Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant, two of the premier magicians of the day, published Our Magic. In the first section, The Art in Magic, Maskelyne outlines 20 rules for magic performance. After well over 100 years, are these rules still relevant, and do they apply to more than magic?

Rule 1: Never set aside any accepted rule, unless it be absolutely necessary to do so for some clearly defined reason.

A lot of us like to think that we’re ‘outside of the box’ thinkers. We’re not constrained by the way everyone else sees the world. No, we’re more than that. We’re visionaries, the 5% who see the world in a unique way. Rules are for those other losers!

Before I go any further, let me clarify that I’m not talking about doing something no one has thought of before* but rather going against perceived wisdom. For example, when writing, it is suggested authors ‘show, not tell’. What this means is that, instead of simply describing something, a writer is better served focusing on sensory details and actions. The theory is that in doing this the author places the reader in the same space as the character, rather than making them a passive observer. Chekhov summoned it up brilliantly when he said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass". I’m also very much talking about fields where the rules are very much ‘the best way to do things’ and not ‘do this you fool!’ Brain surgeons, police officers, asbestos workers, these people really should be paying a lot of attention to the rules of their trade then someone who makes a living pretending to be a character you’ve never heard of from Harry Potter.

So, why should a free-thinking maverick like me learn the rules?

It might spark a thought.

Nanos gigantum humeris insidentes is a Latin phrase meaning dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants. It’s most famously attributed to Newton, who said ‘If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants’, which is rather ironic as he was using a phrase someone else had created.

Knowing how people do things can inspire you to tweak or build on what’s gone before.

Before John Cage composed his controversial 4’33, he listened to Stravinsky and Bach. Georgia O’Keeffe might have ignored the boundaries between representation and abstraction, but she studied watercolours and painted landscapes first. True innovators are almost always driven by a desire to push the boundaries of what has come before. Rarely do they stumble upon a new way of seeing the world because they’ve not bothered to educate themselves.

Fine, maybe I’ll learn them, but why should I stick to the rules, rather than sticking it to the man?

It will save you time.

Believe it or not there have been quite a few smart people before you, and a lot of them have passed on what they’ve learned. The important thing to do with that information isn’t to simply listen to what these people have to say, you need to try to understand what they are attempting to communicate. How can you reject an idea before you understand it?

There is nothing wrong in seeing what works for others and deciding if you can apply it to what you’re doing. This isn’t the same as copying or ripping off other people! You’re identifying the tools they’ve used; the ‘rules’ they are following to get the results you want to emulate.

I’ve read your rules and they’re not working for me. What now you square?

Break the rules!

If you can’t get the effect you want by following the rules, then absolutely go ahead and see what happens when you ignore them. Create, go wild! Sometimes it can be fun to ignore the rules because you want to ignore them. But experimentation is, in and of itself, a reason to ignore the rules. The second part of the quote makes it clear; you can and should break the rules, you just need to know why you’re doing it. You’re only going to be able to do that if you know the rules in the first place.

The important thing about the ‘rules’ - within whatever discipline it is you’re following’ - isn’t that they become fixed rails to direct you, but instead signposts that guide you. Just remember, boxes can be really useful!

TFT

*I just tried to give an example of a ‘thing’ no one has thought of before. It’s tricky, for very obvious reasons.

I hope you enjoy my writing. If you do, why not consider buying me a coffee?