> My attitude is about realism in writing is that every new author should train themselves to write realistically, and then, upon succeeding there, refuse to be bound by it and instead gleefully cast realism aside when something can work better some other way. Ultimately it just depends on what you're trying to do with what you're writing. Personal style comes into it, too.

That's what most painter artists do, too. They learn the basic stuff first, like painting still lives (or is that lifes?), nudes etc. realistically first. When they know that, they go on to paint whatever they want (or need).

But you really need to know the basic stuff first.

Travholt.