Book excerpt: Many get tripped up over the very concept of written protocols. We've met many Masters who believe that writing out the way they want things done removes creativity from the relationship. That's not the way we see it.In our experience, a protocol manual is much more than documenting rules of service. Writing a protocol manual helps you examine and refine your relationship and your relationship management style. The very process of creating a manual such as this reveals the kinds of service Master really wants from the slave and the kinds of service the slave can actually deliver. In that light, writing a protocol manual is an exercise in clarifying the intent of your relationship.Biased as we are, we assert that protocols help to reprogram both the Master's and the slave's brains. They help you create habits. Protocols don't merely define how you look on the outside, protocols help shape how you think on the inside. Since protocols specify the way Master wants this particular slave to do things, and since people are different from one another, protocol manuals are person-specific.