Breaking All the Writing Rules

"So, you're saying we can just write something and then look at it and decide to start with the middle?" The woman in my casual writing workshop at my local library gave me an "Are you sure?" look. My class had the usual array of attendees: newbie writers, people who had written long ago (maybe in school) and were just finding their way back to it and a few people who just thought that this workshop sounded like an interesting way to spend a Tuesday evening. And they had what seemed like an unending list of questions about writing.

That question tinged with disbelief was the one that stuck with me. Initially it seemed like a question about attention grabbing starts for a writing piece but underneath it was a question about writing rules. Breaking writing rules.

If you're like me, at some point a teacher taught you the "rules" for writing, including the format for a piece of writing. An introduction, the body of the piece, the conclusion. And yes, that format works for school assignments. Personally, I hate it for personal essays. I like to dive right into my subject with a significant event or memorable image that will make the reader think, "I want to read more of this."

A long time ago I was that woman from my writing class, faithfully constructing an intro, the meat of an essay and then a conclusion that neatly wrapped back to the intro. Eventually I began breaking that rules. I didn't just break it, I ripped it to pieces and tossed it in the shredder.

Those rules taught to us by well-meaning English teachers who are just hoping for readable essays, reports and assignments get ingrained into our brains. My hat's off to them for tackling dozens of essays by 12 year old students who didn't want to write about "What I Did this Summer". But when you move beyond academic writing it's time to break some of those rules in order to create writing that our readers are eager to read.

Starting a sentence with a conjunction. Sentence fragments. Unreliable narrators. Statements with double meanings. Open-ended conclusions. Slang. All things that would earn a red mark from the English teachers of our past. But all things that we probably do regularly with our creative writing.

What rules did you learn in the classroom that you have abandoned in your writing life?

 Jodi M. Webb writes from her home in the Pennsylvania mountains about everything from apple pie to consignment shops to travel. She's also a blog tour manager for WOW-Women on Writing. Follow her writing (and reading) life at Words by Webb.