Comments on: Rules For Writers

By: David Dittell

David Dittell — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:43:23 +0000

Jodee,

Having worked as an English teacher, I tried to instill in my students a knowledge of these actual rules, but always made sure to remind them that you could buck them for stylistic purposes. I, for one, start sentence with conjunctions all the time in my blog pieces, but part of the point when I write it is that I’m breaking a writing rule.

Learn the rules, then throw them away. But don’t skip that first part.

By: Kit

Kit — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:55:41 +0000

So interesting! Playing with the words while making jokes.

By: Mark L

Mark L — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:07:06 +0000

Winston Churchill had the best answer to the rule that one should never split an infinitive. He said, “that is the type of nonsense with which I will not up put.”

(Didn’t he get a Nobel Prize for literature? Good enough for me.)

By: Jonathan Lister

Jonathan Lister — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:09:12 +0000

Splitting an infinitive, as it occurs in modern English, is actually impossible, grammatically speaking. In Old to Middle English infinitives were ‘two words’ so the rule makes sense. As now it’s all English teacher hocus pocus.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:21:49 +0000

I would not never be against praising you for your posting of that wonderfully humorous piece of drivel. I found it to be sporadically ubiquitous in every way possible, as well as in some ways that are not.

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:10:24 +0000

I love it. It really tickled me, thanks Jodee!

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:21:28 +0000

Excellent!

By: jan_geronimo

jan_geronimo — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:16:28 +0000

It’s my policy to eschew writing rules, but if rules are this enjoyable I will not avoid them like the plague anymore. This is a nice find you chose to afflict us with.