Beyond English 101: Breaking the Rules

One of the first things we learn, when learning to write, is how to write correctly. And then we go on learning that for the rest of our school careers. Beyond, even! So many people think that once they've mastered grammar, they've mastered writing. But there is so much more to it than that.

For instance, your standard grammar enthusiast was probably wincing at that first paragraph. I had italics used for emphasis, not for naming a play; I started sentences with and AND but. There's a sentence fragment. All those things are true: that first paragraph is not "proper" grammar. 

But that doesn't make it wrong.

An important question to ask yourself in your writing is, "which grammar do I use?" If you're thinking to yourself, "Um, Emily, there's only one, you heathen," then I've got news for you because your very THOUGHTS are run-on sentences, but that doesn't make them "wrong." 

As any linguist will tell you, there are different grammars within any language. In an essay, using "I feel" statements weakens your statement and is considered incorrect; however, in a couples' counseling session, "I feel" is the correct way to preface a statement.

In just the same way, while using flowery language that shows off your SAT-ready vocabulary might cause your little old wrinkled tall beautiful young English teacher's heart to grow effulgent, it's not going to be as popular in your hard-hitting crime novella.

One place where "good" grammar reads just as wrong as a run-on sentence in a resumé, is dialogue. Nothing makes a character sound stilted, stand-offish, and inauthentic, quicker than a few consecutive lines of perfectly polished, inarguably correct dialogue. People just don't talk that way! The key is to make it sound natural, above worrying whether it's "correct." And sometimes, especially if you're still in school, this is very challenging.


There's the fear of being corrected, of failing, of people thinking you're less knowledgeable than you are. But time and time again, in your journey as a writer, you will learn that the desire to always be right and perfect and never make mistakes poisons creativity. You can't be great if you're obsessed with following the rules.

When writing fiction, your goal is not just to communicate, or show off your vocabulary, or get an "A." Your goal is (or at least, should be,) to evoke feeling in the reader. To make someone interested, amused, heartbroken, inspired, horrified. And the only tool you have to accomplish this goal is words. So you're going to be using them however you can. Use them up, use them fluidly, abuse them, make them jarring. Shock. Then use the words to soothe, carrying the reader along gently, until you lay them down at the peaceful happy ending. When the stakes are this high, you can't restrain yourself with sixth-grade rules.

Now, don't think this means you have license to forget the rules. You've seen the way I write on this blog-- sloppy, sometimes slapdash, sometimes funny, always authentic-- but I actually have a fair amount of training in writing correctly. I have a Bachelor's in English, and I am a 4-star copyeditor on a somewhat rigorous freelance writing site. When I write in the voice of this blog, I'm making (at least on some level) a choice to do so, because it's a voice I find comfortable and honest. It's also because I'm tired of reading writing blog after writing blog with the same polished, stand-offish, professional voice. (I'm also tired of never being able to find a writing blog that isn't just one giant sales pitch to get you to Buy My eBook! and Take My Class! and Pay Me $600 For Writing Consultations! but that's a different issue.)

This also isn't license to ignore the rules of the grammar you are using. For example, for years, I was unknowingly breaking a key rule of text grammar: I used to end my texts with a period. I had no idea that this was bad text grammar, and bad manners. I still slip up and make this mistake sometimes, because I slip back into "non-texting" grammar; for the context, though, this is wrong. I am making as much of a grammar mistake when I do that as the Walmart employee who labels the shelf "CD's and DVD's".

Usually, these are minor mistakes, which most readers will overlook. The place where this becomes a much bigger issue that you should take seriously is with accents and dialects associated with specific minorities. I can't think of a better example of this than Ebonics, which is generally recognized by linguists as a language in its own right. Ebonics has its own grammar, rules, definitions, rhythm, and correct usages; you can't just write it as "black people talking wrong," because that makes you ignorant, incorrect, and pretty freaking obnoxious honestly. You can take entire classes on the grammar of Ebonics, just like English. Most people who speak Ebonics also speak garden-variety English, and they know how and when to switch. If you decide to use Ebonics, or accents and dialects, make sure you're doing research and respecting the origins and validity of that linguistic niche, not just winging it because you think you already know everything you need to.

A final thought: the purpose of "correct" grammar is to get your meaning across effectively and reduce confusion; that means that before any of the rules of grammar apply, you have to apply the overarching rule of language: does this make sense, and is it making that sense as hard as it can? If it does, it's probably right enough.

Unless you're taking the SATs.

Today's Song Recs: (Which all break some rule or another)

Gold by Kiiara

I Say a Little Prayer For You (thanks to Chris Thile of "Live From Here" for breaking down the wonderful oddness of this song)

Just trust me



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