
Breaking the Rules
http://www.stc.org/intercom/PDFs/2002/200204_10-11.pdf
Gallagher, Jolie A.
Intercom
2002
Abstract:
In our early writing years, many of
us toiled under strict teachers who
drilled the rules of English grammar
into our collective consciousness.
We sweated drops of blood on our
pristine paper as we tried to craft perfect
sentences for that much-desired 'A.' We
prayed that we didn’t leave a word or
clause misplaced or dangling for the
teacher’s angry red pen to mark.
Yet pick up a work of modern fiction,
and you might notice that the writer has
broken many of the rules that were
drummed into our impressionable heads.
These days, fiction often resembles the
casual style of postmodern poetry, with
sentence fragments and punctuation
sprinkled about like seasoning. But in
technical communication, we can’t be so
casual. We must adhere to those rules of
grammar our English teachers upheld—
at least, for the most part.