Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop!
Today’s topic is: What rules of writing do you break on purpose?
And remember to visit my fellow writers to see what they have come up with. You can find their works here!
I think this one is actually a really tricky question to answer. I think things change and evolve over time. And this very much includes the rules of writing. At one time you wouldn’t start a sentence with “and”. Now it’s pretty common to see things like that in books. I am sure there was a time when coarse language was unacceptable, but it’s probably as common in books as it is in spoken language.
In my own books, I write dialogue as it would be spoken by the characters in my head. It’s not pretty, or polished, or perfect, but people speak in all manner of ways, with different affectations. Some accents lead to dropped letters, certain turns of phrase, a whole host idiosyncrasies. I’ve read some books where dialogue is perfect, it’s written in the “ideal” form. It’s easy to read, but it’s also clumsy. It immediately pulls me out of the story. It’s not real.
I think the rules of writing are an ever evolving thing. They will always change and shift. In much the same way the rules of language and speech change.
Steven Smith 
I reckon that grammar rules don’t apply to anything between quotation marks.
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I’m with you on that one. The rules are more guidelines, anyway.
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Yes, I agree that rules do not apply to dialogue. Not applying rules makes dialogue more realistic and less stilted.
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Dialogue needs to sound like a real person. You’re right, if it’s stiff and artificial, it’ll feel clumsy.
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Borderline robotic at times if it’s too clinical.
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I think rules matter. It’s kind of like a foundation on a building. Trust me — Alaskans do this often — you can build a structure that will last for decades without a foundation, but that building is inherently unstable.
But the rules aren’t as important as some people think they are and slavish devotion to “the rules” makes for stodgy writing.
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I see the rules more as a set of guidelines to get you started.
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This is a tricky question. I am sure if I’m a rule breaker or not. Sometimes I start a sentence with “and” when using dialogue.
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