Intelligent human beings owe it to our sanity and our souls to apply this to our own creativity. If I slave away on a manuscript attempting to form it into someone else s model, then my own creativity is frustrated and lost. I became a slave to the model, to the rules. I m not advocating anyone totally ignore the lessons of the more experienced or better-informed masters. I AM advocating that the neophyte learn how to incorporate someone else s thought patterns in their own creative adventure.
Police officers learn how and what to observe then document.
Out of training, the working officer is free to follow the rules of interrogation and investigation as he thinks through his findings. Because the intelligent officer uses those rules as guidelines for mentally processing information, but the end-result of his conclusions or his reactions are his alone. He has applied the rules to the process, but on his terms as an individual. ALL professionals first learn the rules of their work, then apply them in their own way. That individuality is what makes any work a creative adventure.