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Being Good All the Time Is Not Fun: Breaking Rules
As soon as I could crawl, my parents taught me to follow rules. This expectation of obedience was reinforced during my eight years at St. Mary's Catholic School in West, Texas. Only when I was several years into my teaching career did I learn the benefits of occasionally breaking rules—or, at least, finessing rules. Students are not all created equal. At times they should be cut some slack. Once I realized this, I became a much better, and happier, teacher. The same is true with some rules of grammar. Breaking the rules is okay as long as you know what you're doing. It can make you a better, and happier, writer. But you have to understand the rules in the first place.
Here are five rules that can be broken if a skilled writer has a purpose for doing so:
Do Not Split Infinitives
One example of an infinitive is a two-word verb form beginning with to. Examples: to live, to love, to laugh. When a word or phrase is placed between the preposition to and the verb, the infinitive is said to be split.
I want to, before I get too old, learn how to surf.
Before I get too old is the phrase that splits the infinitive to learn. This split needs to be corrected because the sentence sounds awkward.
I want to learn how to surf before I get too old.
However, splitting an infinitive is acceptable when the interruptive word (the word splitting the infinitive) is used for emphasis:
I had to quickly put the car in the garage to keep it from getting damaged by hail.
The adverb quickly splits the infinitive to put, but emphasizes the need to move quickly.
Do Not End a Sentence with a Preposition
The awkwardness of trying to avoid breaking this rule is best demonstrated by the famous quote attributed to Winston Churchill, who was occasionally criticized for ending his own sentences with prepositions: "This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put."
As Churchill appreciated, in some cases, a preposition at the end of a sentence sounds less awkward:
A classroom full of excited kindergarteners is too nerve-racking to put up with.
Putting with earlier in the sentence gets your point across, but it sounds more formal than what we are used to hearing:
Putting up with a classroom full of kindergarteners is too nerve-racking.
In the following example, the first version is more conversational, and the second too formal:
Whom do I submit my application to?
To whom do I submit my application?
Avoid Beginning a Sentence with But
I remember getting a lower-than-expected grade on a high school essay because I broke this rule. My parents had taught me never to question my teachers; otherwise, I would have challenged the B-minus I was given. But this rule is often broken, and deservedly so. One of my writing gurus, William Zinsser, strongly agrees with me. In his book On Writing Well, he says, "Many of us were taught that no sentence should begin with 'but.' If that's what you learned, unlearn it—there's not a stronger word at the start." He points out that when the mood is about to change, using but at the beginning of the next sentence works better than however, therefore, nevertheless, or instead.
Consider the following two examples from a hardboiled mystery I'm writing:
He caught the scent of Coco Chanel and wondered how she afforded that expensive stuff on her meager salary. But, hey, with her looks and charm, there had to be a man.
He hoped to God he'd have the chance to shake the missing author's hand like all the other dopes waiting for her autograph. But hope gets an honest man nowhere.
I could have used nevertheless, or however. But those words have less impact than but.
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