5 ways to break the writing rules
Most of the time, sticking the the accepting guidelines for grammar, usage and punctuation is the way to go, but very occasionally, it’s OK to toss the rulebook.
The same could be said for the rules of writing. Writers and editors frequently enforce style, grammar, spelling and punctuation rules at our companies or for our clients. Occasionally, to achieve the desired effect in our writing, it’s necessary to disregard those same rules. Here are a few to start with:
1. Start a sentence with “and.” Though it is often frowned upon, there is no grammar rule in any stylebook or usage manual that I have read that prevents writers from starting a sentence with a conjunction. So it’s okay to start a sentence with “and,” “but,” or any other conjunction. And according to the Chicago Manual of Style … “a substantial percentage (often as many as 10 percent) of the sentences in first-rate writing begin with conjunctions.”
2. Use nouns as verbs.
A colleague recently used “Frankenstein” as a verb and it was quite descriptive. I knew exactly what she meant when she said, “I need to Frankenstein those images for the ad artwork.” If no other word will do, or if it will enable you to write a cleaner sentence, go ahead and use that noun as a verb.
3. Leave out that comma.
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