Worst Writing Advice: When the Rules Aren’t Rules
Not all writing advice is created equal.
That sentence above is a prime example. It’s not the perfect construction, but I like it and since my blog is written the way I’d speak if we were face to face, that’s how I wrote it.
It’s not a big deal, but there are people out there who twitch at sentence structure that’s not “perfect” according to the rules. They wag an index finger at the offending writer and tout THE RULES to prove their case.
Rules are great. I won’t deny that. We can’t have anarchy in the grammar world, after all. But there are times when rules are broken effectively — as long as they’re purposeful — and other times when the rules need to be the rules and that’s that.
The problem arises when a rule isn’t exactly a rule; i.e., when something is thought of as a rule, but is merely tradition — or worse, tradition based on misinterpretation or misapplication.
Can you end a sentence with a preposition? Can you begin one with a conjunction? Can you use contractions in dialogue? What about fragmented sentences? Are you allowed to split infinitives?
Does the passive voice always, always have to be adjusted? No, it doesn’t, and there’s a passive sentence for you right there. I wanted “passive voice” to be first in the sentence…
