Feeling a little rebellious? Fed up with following rules?
Me, too.
Everyone tells us what to do. Eat more fruit. Drink less alcohol. Get up early. Don’t jump red traffic lights. Hold the handrail.
I know I’m guilty, too. Almost weekly, I’ve been telling you how to write and which mistakes to avoid.
So, today is different. Today, we talk about rules you can ignore, so your writing life becomes a little easier, and perhaps your writing even gets better, too.
Okay?
Why you can ignore these rules
Imagine no traffic rules existed. No traffic lights, and no roundabouts. How would you get around your home town? Would traffic move faster or slower?
Traffic rules help us drive (or cycle or walk) both safer and faster. We can anticipate what others will do. We know when it’s our turn to cross safely. We avoid chaos on the road.
Writing rules are similar. They exist to avoid confusion, so readers can grasp your ideas without stumbling around. Without having to guess what you tried to say.
For instance, rules exist about spelling you’re vs your and their vs there. These are strict rules because a misspelling wrong-foots your readers.
Rules exist for concise writing, too. These rules are less strict, but important because unwieldy writing slows your readers down. That’s why we need to be careful with adverbs, eliminate the future tense, and avoid weak words.
But a small selection of rules is cosmetic. These rules are dreamed up by high school teachers who like telling us we’ve made mistakes. Well, let’s stop caring about these so-called mistakes because we’ve more important rules to worry about.
Ready?
Writing rule #1: Don’t start your sentence with But, Or, Because, or And
You can break this rule, because shorter sentences are easier to read. They add energy to your writing. And by starting with a word like And you stress a specific point in your writing.
Apple‘s copywriters, for instance, love starting a sentence with But or And.
When you merge the two sentences, the longer sentence becomes cumbersome and harder to understand:
Here’s another example:
When you string the three sentences together, the rhythm changes:
Listen to the rhythm of your writing. Which version sounds better? Your writing requires a mix of long and snappy sentences.
Writing rule #2: Don’t use broken sentences
Broken sentences don’t befuddle our readers. Instead, we add clarity. By stressing words. (Like that.)
That’s why you should feel confident to use fragments instead of full sentences. Free yourself from the rule of broken sentences.
Apple’s copywriters love broken sentences, too:
Live Photos. Lasting memories.
The rhythm changes when you use a full sentence instead:
Here’s another example:
The words intuitively and efficiently lose stress when you add them to the previous sentence:
Broken sentences add stress to specific phrases. They change the tone of your writing, making it snappier. And more energetic.
Writing rule #3: Each paragraph must contain three to five sentences
Who said that?
When each paragraph has the same number of sentences, your writing looks boring. Good writing is well designed. A one-sentence paragraph stands out, attracting your reader’s attention. It also breaks up a pattern of monotone blocks of text.
Here’s a fragment from All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr (one of my favorite reads this year):
Where is he? The sweet, slightly chemical scent of gun oil; the raw wood of newly constructed shell crates; the mothballed odor of old bedspreads–he’s in the hotel. Of course. L’hôtel des Abeilles, the Hotel of Bees.
Still night. Still early.
From the direction of the sea come whistles and booms; flak is going up.
The number one rule of writing
Your job as a writer is to communicate your ideas. To allow readers to visualize your story and feel your words.
So your number one rule is to write for your readers.
When your readers get irritated by grammar mistakes, you’re wrong. When your readers stumble over your sentences, you’ve made a mistake. When readers don’t get your ideas, your communication isn’t clear enough.
Writing is not about sticking to grammar rules. Writing is about communicating ideas with clarity.
Let your ideas shine.
And inspire your readers.
More tips for grammar rebels:
Why adverbs stink
How punctuation influences your voice
4 pronoun mistakes tripping up your readers
Hi Henneke,
You have driven home your point by ‘breaking rules’ while writing this article. This proves your fluency while writing. Frankly speaking, having your own writing style matters a lot. Even though your readers may take time to like it.
Many of the articles that I have read have their own unique way of communicating. And that is what matters,according to me. Maybe I should give a try by using the tricks you have given in this article.
When you develop your own style, there will be some people who don’t like it but your writing will resonate more strongly with others.
I wanna be a rulebreaker.
I really do.
Thank you for giving me
Permission to rebel!!
Arrrrgh!
🙂
Life would be boring if we didn’t break the rules now and then!
Enjoy breaking the rules, Penelope 🙂
You forgot jaywalking!! Rebellious Dutch, like you and me, do that too. Here in the US they get the jitters from that when I do that, love it.
Great article, thanks. Yep, I am breaking those rules all the time. I write like I talk. If you like it great, if you don’t great. And so it is ….
Keep going Henneke,
PS Who on Earth coughed up all those rules anyway? Humans, right? Well, I am human and I make my own rules. And as long as they do not harm anybody I just keep doing my thing.
Cheers from lovely warm Phoenix, Elvire
Yeah, I don’t know who invented these rules … someone who didn’t appreciate the rhythm of writing 😉
Glad you’re a fellow rebel, Elvire!
Hi Henneke,
Hmm rules! I remember them vaguely. 🙂 Seriously though, they help. Most of them came in when printing made reading more available to the masses in books for example. Making the English language standard meant more people could learn to read and write and become more socially mobile and educated.
British English is a little different from American English. Although, the American influence, as always, affects British English, especially spelling, e.g. we used to spell “jail” as “gaol”, hence Oscar Wilde’s “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”.
My spelling is atrocious! But I try. Still, rules help develop skill, as @AntoniaKZ says. Only then can you break them and be brilliant. Even Picasso learnt to draw and paint by following the rules. Only then could he break them so brilliantly.
-Tom
Yep sure, most rules are useful because they make reading our content easier. We can’t break them all willy-nilly.
Always good to see your name pop up, Tom. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
But I always start my sentences like that. Because I like it. And I don’t care. Thank god we have no rules like that over here in NL. Utterly etcetera!
The Dutch are rebellious. That’s why the Dutch language doesn’t have silly rules like this. And we like jumping red lights on our bikes, too 😉
I must agree that rules are made to be broken…but not all of them as you point out. However, as a teacher and writer I think that one should first master the rules before breaking them. When you can write using all grammar and spelling correctly, then it’s time to break free and make your own rules. It’s like learning a language – you can’t speak the slang before knowing the right way.
Yes, that’s an excellent point. Thank you for making it, Antoniya. And nice to meet you!
xo
That probably breaks ’em all, but was how I signed all my notes to my kiddos. Helped them know it was really me. Ha!
xo
🙂
Rule Breakers are automatically in!
All Hail Fellow Rule Breakers!
I do love this post. It is even sweeter to break the rules when you know what they are in the first instance. Delish fun!
I read this quote recently and it resonated with me… “Rules should be questioned, tested, reviewed over time and broken if they are not law or commandment.” Jeffrey Hayzlett, Think Big, Act Bigger.
Cheers Henneke – more please with relish.
Nicole
The HR Rule Breaker
Ah, somehow, I’m not surprised to discover you’re a fellow Rule Breaker. We need to find more rules, so we can break them. 🙂
I like that quote!
The No Permission Slip Required Club 🙂
Where can I join? 🙂
I think it was David Ogilvy, famous ad man who gave the following advice. He said use short words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. God knows it worked for him! And much to my husband’s head-shaking, I love starting sentences with “And.”
Yes, we have to ignore the head-shakers. We’re right! We can break these rules 🙂
Rules, rules, rules! 3 more grammar rules! I will try applying all of them. Thanks, thanks, thanks! And… have yourself a wonderful rainy day in London, drinking a nice cup of green tea full of antioxidants.
There… I wrote for you a nice paragraph. Just practicing your teachings! And a poetry treat for you… while relaxing. This is a piece of a very old poetry of unknown authorship.
If the task is once began
Never leave it till is done.
Be la labor great or small…
Do it well, or not at all.
Oh wow, a poem.
I’m so lucky to get poems as comments 🙂
Henneke, I love how you teach.
I just started my blog and I’m confident about communicating my ideas by using these techniques.
Thank you for your work.
Your comment makes me happy, Dora. Thank you.
Have fun with your blog!
Thanks Henneke!
The web-writing rule I see behind the broken rules is “Let your writing be like your talking.”
Great stuff.
Gary
Yes, to some extent that’s true.
Talking, however, tends to be quite wordy, and that’s what we don’t like in writing. So, yes, our writing should give the perception of being conversationally, but in reality our writing is still quite different from how we talk.
Hey Henneke,
Really great stuff here.
I started breaking the rules of writing a long time ago. I didn’t always though.
I was still following the school mentality of not starting sentences with and , because, but … Mainly because I was taught that it was wrong. But I learned over my brief time blogging that it’s a rule to break.
For once I feel good because I started following this before reading it here lol.
Have a great week.
– Andrew
Yay! I’m glad you’re a writing rebel, too. Join the club 🙂
Phew! I started ignoring these rules a loooong time ago. And yes: I did it on purpose! 🙂 Forget them and you end up with a much more conversational tone. One of the most powerful (and easiest) ways to make your copy sound more natural and human.
Yay! Glad you’re a fellow writing rebel, Chris. 🙂
Hello Henneke, looking forward to more things like these. Sometimes we think we should follow certain rules and the truth is that following them makes us less creative. Good point!
On the other hand, I wanted to ask you for a recommendation. Do you know any cool blogs on product marketing? As an expert on online marketing I’m sure you have a favorite 🙂
Have you read April Dunford’s blog? Or are you more looking for something on digital products?
I was looking just for this! Thanks for the recommendation, now following her blog too!
You can’t say this too often. Every so often I get a message complaining that I’ve broken a rule. As you said, even mainstream book authors break all three rules on a regular basis.
I learned “good” English from an early age so it was hard to get used to the conversational style at first. I get why people resist. But the resulting copy is so much more approachable and friendly.
Yeah, I know. It can be frustrating when clients say “You can’t start your sentence with ‘But'”. I used to say – look at Apple, they do it, too. But arguing often doesn’t work.
Great post Henneke. Many writers are obsessed with writing “right”. When I edit manuscripts, aside from the proofing errors, I check the cadence, or the rhythm – above all else. Like a song that must be fine-tuned.
Yes, I agree with you. Too much focus on writing “right” can kill a voice, making it too rigid.
Thank you for stopping by!
Hi Henneke, great to see you mentioning All the Light We Cannot See! What a beautifully written book. What a joy to read. Anthony Doerr’s imagery is wonderful: “The sky drops silver threads of sleet.” Simple yet stunning. Thank you very much for recommending it a few weeks ago.
I’ve been nervous about reading his other books as I’m afraid I might be disappointed. I might re-read this one instead.
I could probably write a whole blog post about it some time (just need to remember to highlight the best parts when I re-read it!).
Yes! I was nodding my head so much while I was reading this post, I had to stop myself in order not to risk a whiplash 😉
Once more you’ve said what needed to be said. Ditch those silly school writing rules. The only thing they produce is average, boring and drab volumes of text.
“Your number one rule is to write for your readers.”
“Writing is about communicating ideas with clarity.”
You should consider selling some of these little gems of yours as poster art 🙂
I like that idea!
Be careful with your neck. It’s a precious part of your body!
sunny season transforms to rainy season.
breaking the rules with permitted sentence formation.
grammar is given a twist for clarity.
just to avoid the adversity.
Thank you Henneke for your 3 rules.
We are here to overtake these 3 rules in our writing.
Enjoy the rains 🙂
Sounds a bit like experimental poetry 🙂
Happy writing!