Do not put statements in the negative form. And don’t start sentences with a conjunction. If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. De-accession euphemisms. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague. ~William Safire, “Great Rules of Writing”
Sorry for the long quotation, but I just love that bit by Safire. Right now I’ve got three totally different things going on (hope this won’t be news to either of my publishers). I’m editing a completed manuscript, writing a first draft for a different series, and gearing up to promote an August release.
I thought I’d surely say that the promotional stuff is the worst out of the three, but I think the editing/revision has won out.
Actually, I frequently break many of Safire’s rules. I guess my style of writing is colloquial….or chatty. It’s conversational, at any rate. I frequently have fragments in dialogue or in narrative, I’ll start with conjunctions, and end with linking verbs. I was an English major and know these things are real boo-boos, but no one has stopped me yet. I mean, editors have really revised my writing, but not the stuff I thought they might go after.
This makes me wonder….are the rules changing? Are we relaxing some of our grammatical and style standards? And why aren’t I feeling horrified if that’s true? I’m definitely a word nerd and I keep thinking I should shape up, but when I follow the rules (particularly in dialogue), my text sounds really stiff.
Here are some fun sites for all the other word nerds out there:
On Twitter: GrammarCops
Blogs: Grammar Cops (Blog) , Apostrophe Abuse, Wordsplosion, The Cliche Slayer, Gr8Grammar
Rules? Grammer? Speling? Who need these thing? Not us, not we riters! Nop, we cans do whatever we plese to.
Just make sure we alls calls it our “voice.”
Hi Elizabeth, I’m a firm believer in breaking the rules and establishing your own voice and style. However, and that’s a big however, it is essential to learn the rules first and break them on purpose. My favorite is fragments. Good for emphasis. And afterthoughts.
Patricia
Most of these “rules” are not grammar at all; they are style suggestions. Style is much more flexible than grammar, especially when it is used to create a distinctive authorial voice.
My editor still knows the grammar rules of the road. I have to have a damn good reason to start a sentence with a conjunction. And that’s a shame, because I really like to do just that!
Gayle
http://gaylecarline.blogspot.com
Tom is right…I’m referring more to style. My bad! I’m making a correction to the text. (I shouldn’t write blogs at night anymore.)
And “Elements of Style” is one of my fave books. Sigh. E.B. White would have my head…
Elizabeth
I am with Patricia. If you know the rules, you can break them, and breaking them can help you create your own voice. I regularly break the rules with regard to conjunctions and fragments when I am writing in first person or deep third.
For me, any and all rules go out the window with dialogue, except for the cardinal rule – it has to be in the character’s voice, not my own.
And I agree, you have to know the rules, by heart, well enough to hear when you’re off, before you start breaking them.
Great post.
That’s true about needing to know the rules. I’d hate for there not to BE any rules, definitely. But it is fun to break them from time to time.
Alan, you’re too funny–wonder what an editor would make of a “voice” like that!?
Elizabeth