My last post was trying to make this point: take all writing advice (even advice masquerading as a 'rule') under advisement. Don't let rules stop you from being clear.
This last bit is something of a paraphrase from a well-known essay by George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language." As he writes, after providing his own list of rules, "Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous." *
The essay is often standard reading for college writing students; you can find a copy here--or in any library! And you can find a discussion of it here, by a colleague of mine who used to teach at OU and now teaches in California. His blog is listed on the right.
I encourage you to not only check out his blog, but to investigate other online resources that might help you think about your writing. I have already mentioned the Grammar Girl; the OU Writing Center (with links to citation guides) is here and I will be adding more links (see pages to the right) as I find good resources. Let me know if you find a good online resource.
* From A Collection of Essays, Harcourt (1946, 1981), 170.
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