CeeCee wrote:
<That said, I'm often afraid to look too closely at the 'do and don't's, afraid they might freeze the muse, does that make sense?>

Sort of. smile
But maybe these 'do's and 'don'ts' are meant to drive the writer crazy after that first muse inpired draft is completd. It's at that point that the muse then goes out for a stroll, leaving the poor writer behind to clean up the mess.

I'll add 'said softly' to the mea culpa list, btw.

CCMalo