In C.S. Forester's series, Horatio Hornblower, a British naval officer, Horatio, must always do what is best for his ship. This is his duty.
As authors, we hold a duty to our book. We should strive to make the book the best it can be, not holding back and not being afraid to make the needed changes. This means, that sometimes we must change a scene, delete a character (even a beloved one!), re-write a plot, or exert ourselves in some other way, all for the sake of the book. Even though this can be annoying and difficult, we should not cringe from making necessary adaptions to our novels and stories. Sometimes, for the good of the book, we must do things that we do not want to do.
Writing rules are made, and they are often made to be broken. We break them, for - you guessed it - the good of the book.
But, there is one thing we should never forget. Our duty as Christians is to honor God. This is a higher responsibility than that which we owe to our novels. We must never forget to look to God for guidance in our writing, and seek always to please him with our work. He is the one who gives out the ability and talent to write, and we should cherish, not abuse, this gift.
For the good of the book, and for the glory of God!
