Follow the rules first

You can chop up a tree and make it into a house, but there first has to be a tree.

You can roast a marshmallow and put it on a graham with chocolate, but there first has to be a marshmallow.

You can write Lewis Carroll nonsense and made-up words, but there first has to be the English language.

You can be an anarchist and a vagabond, but there first has to be society mainly comprised of people who play along.

You can have a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but there first have to be sheep.

You can have art, but there first has to be reality.

You have to start with the fundamentals. You have to learn your base ingredient. You have to follow the rules before you can start breaking them and making up your own.