Rachael is a Little Daring

I was always a rule-follower. I was one of those kids who knew where she was supposed to be when the whistle on the playground blew. I knew where to line up, I knew who should be behind me, and I knew where everyone else was supposed to be, too. I'd glare at kids who ran around after the bell had gone off. Didn't they KNOW they weren't supposed to use the water fountain right before we lined up?

I've gotten over most if it. I try not to care when other people break the rules, and honestly, I'm pretty good at not caring -- as long as they're not hurting someone else, I can't be bothered. If someone gets free cable because the company has forgotten to turn it off, good for them. If a person with twenty items in their cart is in front of me in the 9-items-or-less line, I pick up the latest People magazine, grateful I have a little more time with it.

The best part is knowing exactly what the rules are so I can break them in small ways. It feels daring. Dangerous. The better you know the rules, the more fun it is to bend them. I like to go in the Out door at the supermarket. I like to enter parking lots where they have painted an exit arrow. I've been known to movie-hop. I like to rip off the tags that say "Do Not Remove." I really enjoy washing my dry-clean-only clothes.

And I love knowing the rules about writing that I've already broken:

No one keeps writing after college.
It's impossible to get an agent without knowing someone.
No one sells their first completed manuscript.

Now I'm working on disproving the rule that No one makes a living from writing. Wanna break the rules with me? Who's in?