Rules are for Bending
A reminder that being "good at grammar" does not always mean good at writing
There is something about the world of grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage, and the rest of the dark side of 7th-grade English class that makes a lot of people despair.
I can’t remember the rules, they say, or I’m afraid I’ll look stupid if I misspell something in this communication.
One thing I hope to do in writing this newsletter is to demystify a lot of the rules around grammar, et al. To give you a fun way to remember them, or a reference you can check if they just won’t stick.
I also hope that I am being clear that very often, these so-called rules are not black and white, but rather many different shades of gray.
Good writing is less about being perfect than about catching a reader’s eye (or a listener’s ear, because writing can and should be read aloud almost as often as it isn’t).
I said what I said. If your writing isn’t perfect, it can still be good. It can even be great, win prizes, get quoted, go viral.
Grammar matters. So does punctuation, so does proper usage, and yes, so does spelling. All of these things will make your writing better. But often, making writing better is as much about going in and tinkering with your sentences, moving words or whole paragraphs around, than it is about remembering all the rules. And I’ll say it again: Read it aloud. You’ll hear where you might need to add a comma or end a sentence sooner. Learn to trust your ear; it will lead you astray far less often than trying desperately to remember 7th-grade English class rules.
May this newsletter be a confidence-building tool, not a confidence-destroying one!
I will be off next week, vacationing with my family, but I’ll be back and better than ever the week of April 9. As always, if there’s any topic you’d like me to tackle on this platform, leave a comment or send me an email or social-media message. I am also readying my new feature for paid subscribers; if you’d like to join that club, just click on this here button. Thank you!