Rules, Rules, Rules

Or maybe not. There are rules that everyone who writes has to follow--usage rules, like the difference between affect and effect, or grammatical rules like the fact that a sentence must have a subject and a verb.** 

But I’m always astonished at the kinds of rules students tell me that other writing teachers imposed upon them.  I certainly don't want to attack other writing instructors--especially teachers in public high schools who are often dealing with well over a hundred students at a time. And  I sense the logic behind some rules--forbidding “I” might make students more likely to argue rather than assert unfounded positions. But some I can’t fathom at all--don’t use contractions ( I suppose they say “do not use contractions”), don’t use “because,” never start a sentence with “but”  or “and.” What really gets me about some of these rules that students seem to carry around in their heads is that is STOPS them from writing--and often stops them from writing clearly.  If you have to torture a sentence to avoid a perfectly good work ( like “I” or “but” or “we”), it often makes the already hard work of writing even harder.

Again, I’m not writing this to criticize other teachers, because I think ALL writing practice is good.  And maybe the discipline of being told DON’T DO THIS, whatever this is, is helpful, too.

Perhaps I’m just too freethinking, but I have very few rules, and I’m certainly not interested in creating a lot of strange little arbitrary rules. General approaches seem more useful and take into account the fact that individuals are, well, individual.  If you want to challenge one of my general approaches and you have a good reason, I’ll be open to that. 

In fact, if I do have a rule it is this: know what choices you’ve made in your writing and be able to defend them.  Used a strange word, or a used a word in an unusual manner? Fine, as long as you say, or suggest, why (in whatever you are writing). Don’t have a thesis statement? Ok, as long as your argument is crystal clear from the body paragraphs. Want to write a one sentence paragraph? Go for it, as long as that brevity is warranted by its position in the development of your argument.

I have a few pet peeves based on widespread misuses (number v. amount  is one, I may reveal more in later posts), but here is my general advice (advice--not rules!): 

• You should do whatever you need to do to write in a way that sounds like you at your most articulate. Write in your own voice, not a colloquial, slangy voice, but the voice you would use if you could have 5 minutes to think through every thing you say.    
• You should do whatever you need to do to write in a way that reflects your best thinking. That thinking should be reflected in grammatical sentences--syntax, as Stanley Fish tells us being a way of logically organizing the world. *

Finally: Don’t censor yourself by trying to avoid this word, or that kind of construction, or by following a formula that isn't helping. 


What are some rules you've learned about writing? Were they helpful or are they rules you are ready to break?
***************

** Some very good writers frequently use sentence fragments --but this is one of those cases where you really have to know the rule before you can break it! Also, confused about affect v effect? Check this out:grammar girl on affect/effect
* In How to Write a Sentence (Harper Collins)