The most shocking thing I learned from my Intro to Journalism class was not how to write a lead— that one came in at a close second. The biggest surprise was the realization that it was not grammatically incorrect to start a sentence with a conjunction.
What? How could this be? Didn’t my elementary school teacher make me swear never to begin a sentence with “but” on pain of a D-?
Indeed.
We writers, English teachers, and grammar nuts like to speak of the “rules of writing” as if they were recorded in an iron-clad textbook sheltered in the Cathedral of Literary Excellence. The truth is far less glamorous. The rules of writing are like buzz words— they get thrown around a lot by folks who may or may not understand what they speak of.
Sometimes these rules are oversimplified. Sometimes they are flat out wrong. I could just make a list of the top ten myths about writing and grammar, but the bigger question on my mind is why? Why do we assume these rules are steadfast?
The answer? They’re not. But we make the mistake of pretending they are.
Writing and grammar rules, real or made up, exist to give writing direction and structure. Experienced writers don’t treat rules on grammar and form as unbreakable contracts, but tricks of the trade; tools that satisfy a purpose— until they don’t. Have you ever used the butt of a screwdriver as a hammer when the latter was out of reach? Jane Austin used double Negatives; she, Faulkner, Charles Dickens, and dozens of now classic literary giants used run-on sentences. And in our fancy modern English, “Where is he?” sounds much better than “Where is he at?” doesn’t it?
Of course, you would never know the ban on ending sentences in prepositions was a myth unless you questioned it. And questioning grammatical and writing rules is only the beginning.
Do a quick Google search on the qualities employers are looking for in college graduates and, chances are, critical thinking is on that list. Notice, critical thinking does not mean incapable of following directions, but the ability to evaluate something performance or value. They want workers with fresh ideas who can look as a system and wonder why. Why should we do it this way? Why do these instructions say this? And what is this task supposed to accomplish?
For those up-and-coming writers out there, I issue a challenge. Learn the rules of writing, and learn them well. Memorize them until you can quote English grammar like your eighth-grade teacher quotes Shakespeare. In the same fashion, never fail to fill the requirements of your instructions.
Then learn how to break those rules. If you are in school, be the student that breaks instructions down and meets them in unexpected ways. Be the person that debates grammar with the instructor instead of just copying down notes. If you are a writer trying to generate public interest, be the writer that challenges the tropes and norms of your genre. It won’t be easy; in fact, breaking rules the right way can be more work than simply following them in the first place. And accept that when trying something new, your first attempts won’t be 100% successful.
But you will learn. And you will try again, and you will do better.
This year, try to be remembered as the writer who wasn’t afraid to play with their craft.
–Jesse Dodson
Image c/o Kreg Steppe, via Flickr Creative Commons