Ahead of The Game

Everything in life is a game.
Losing weight is a game. (and no, standing up so the calories run out your feet doesn't count)
Dealing with your coworkers is a game.
Manipulating your child into NOT having nightmares is a game.
And writing is a game.

The key is to learn the rules and then bend them when needed. (yeah, I know I'm gonna get flack for this)
1) Losing weight: instead of eating five tortilla chips break one into five pieces. Salsa is zero calorie, so you get five times the satisfaction from on tortilla chip. Or do the fork technique while eating salad, dip the fork in salad dressing then spear the lettuce. The dressing is the last taste on your tongue when you pull the fork from your mouth. After eating the salad, check the little pot of dressing. I usually use 1/5 of it.
2) Coworkers: if you butt heads with someone, avoid them. Simple, huh? If you must work along side, keep it business only, until you get home then bitch about it to your wife. (yeah, been there, recently) Or my trick, be so obtuse that you didn't know someone was being snippy to you. ;-) yeah, me again.
3) Manipulating kiddo: Sometimes the kiddo decides she's going to be scared about something. Time to replace that 'thing' with a new story. Invent a story or simply lie *gasp* to the child. Shoot, we started the "you're going to college brainwashing" when she was an infant. At 8, she knows she's going to college.
4) Writing: is the biggest game out there. True, you need to learn how to write, that's why there are the so called 'rules', which are really guidelines, but you also need to learn punctuation, grammar, and structure. Once you learn the rules BREAK THEM. Rules make for a very sterile story. The only way to learn your voice or writing style is to expand your horizons.

I've struggled with writing for years up, learning grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, until last summer. Then I got it. Don't get me wrong, I still have my personal list of rules that I follow, but I had to realize that if I'm going to get rejected I want to be rejected for my own story, and not a compilation of other people's opinions, which is subjective anyway!
Am I still getting rejected? Hell, yes! Because . . .
writing is a game.
Write on!