Five Grammar Rules You Should Break

Grammar rules.  Growing up, we spend countless hours in the classroom, learning the "proper" way to write.  Learning where to place the commas and paragraph breaks.  Learning that our subjects must agree with our verbs.  Learning how to translate our thoughts and feelings into written words. 

In the end, however, who really remembers all those lessons?  Or even half those lessons?

I don't.  Not only that, but I have a confession to make.  I regularly break many of these grammar rules when I write for my online projects - on purpose.  And I think you should too.

Here's why...

Writing to an online audience, and especially blogging, requires that you loosen up and relax.  You will be able to connect with your audience more effectively if you are informal in your presentation. 

Give your writing a conversational tone.  Make your audience feel that you are talking to them, and not at them.  Find your voice.  And yes, break the rules.

Here are five that I break on a fairly consistent basis:

1.  Sentence Fragments

I don't think the term "sentence fragment" needs much explanation.  Basically, it's an incomplete sentence that is unable to stand alone as an independent clause. 

Truth be told, I'm hopelessly addicted to using sentence fragments when I blog.  In this post alone, I have already used at least five! I do not always talk in complete sentences, so why should I write in complete sentences? 

2.  Coordinating Conjunctions

And, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet are coordinating conjunctions, used to connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal rank.  Because the job of coordinating conjunctions is to "connect", we are taught that they should never begin a sentence.  Yep, that's another rule I like to break.  And I break it all the time.

To the true word ninjas out there, you will note that this second grammar faux pas is closely related to the first!

3.  Proper Paragraph Structure

For the most part, we are taught that paragraphs should have the following elements:

• topic sentence explaining the main idea of the paragraph
• supporting sentences providing details regarding the main idea
• closing sentence summarizing the points made

My advice - forget the closing sentence, and keep your paragraphs short and to the point. 

Have you ever heard of "white space"?  It's the amount of breaks you include in your online writing, and it's very important.  If a person lands on your page, and sees a page of unending words with no white space in sight, they are going to click that back button faster than  you can blink.

I will write more about white space later, but for purposes here, keep your paragraphs short.  The shorter the better.

4.  Slang

My sophomore English teacher did not like slang words.  Had one of her students tried to slip one into a writing assignment, it would have been a guaranteed "F". 

Unless high school English teachers are your target audience, don't sweat the slang.  If it's how you talk, by all means, use it!

5.  Misspellings (Or Should I Say "Mispellings"!)

When it comes to correct spelling on the internet, there are two schools of thought.

The first group encourages writers to turn off their spell checkers, and to even purposely mix in a few well-placed misspelled keywords, based on the potential SEO benefits.

The second group discourages this practice, arguing that it appears unprofessional and risks alienating your target audience.

Me?  I'm on the fence.  When I'm surfing the net, I will tolerate the occasional misspelled word on a landing page.  However, if they are a distraction, I will not stick around. 

On the other hand, I realize the importance of using relevant keywords, even misspelled ones, that bring targeted, organic traffic to my sites. 

My solution - compromise.  I use misspellings, but within reason.  Whenever possible, I make it clear to my audience that the "mistake" is intentional.  Need an example?  Take a glance up at the subheading for this section.  I entitled it "Misspellings (Or Should I Say 'Mispellings')".  Did you notice the spelling mistake? 

Now that you know how I'm breaking the rules (of grammar, that is), it's your turn!  Do you break the rules too?  Which ones, and why?  If you have a little time, leave a quick comment below letting us know...