Having a proofreader around, or using proofreading services, is always a good way to find out what grammar rules you cannot break. If you use a great proofreading service, your proofreader will also leave informative comments explaining why you broke a particular rule.
However, an interesting question is that of how many grammar rules you can break. It’s also interesting to ask why you can break these specific rules and not others. After all, with the number of grammar rules that are out there to ensure clarity and professionalism in a document, why is it possible to break some rules and not others?
The good news is that there are very few grammar errors that you need to bother yourself to fix before you send your work to a proofreader. This is because proofreaders do not require your work to be perfect before you submit it for a proofreading service.
At the same time, though, it is still worth knowing about the grammar rules that you have the option of breaking, and finding out when you can leverage this to write powerful, engaging text.
Style-related rule-breaking
For nearly all grammar mistakes, there is an example of a bestselling author who has used the mistake on purpose. This shows that if you use tools like grammar checkers without thinking, or if you use a low-quality proofreading service, you could end up receiving a sub-par document.
Examples of style-related rule-breaking typically involve using:
- Sentence fragments
- Run-on sentences
- Split infinitives
- Compound sentences ignoring commas
- Polysyndeton
Each of the above deserves an article on its own, but consider looking into these examples of style-related rule-breaking to see how you can incorporate them into your own manuscripts.
Use of initial conjunctions
One common grammar rule states: Never start a sentence with a conjunction.
If you stick to this rule all the time, you will always avoid sentences that have a conjunction at the outset of the sentence, such as the second sentence in the following: “Professors used to know better. And those days are over now.”
However, in good writing, it is often natural to include sentences that begin with initial conjunctions. This is because great writing tends to reflect spoken language, and when speaking, people frequently begin sentences with conjunctions like “and,” “but,” and “so.”
Avoid personal pronouns
A few decades ago, the use of specific nouns (e.g., “the author”) usually took the place of personal pronouns (e.g., “I” or “he”) in many types of writing, particularly scientific writing, technical writing, and journal articles.
Due to this, a sort of rule (or convention) developed, which grew in academic writing and persists in many style guides, that it is better to avoid the use of “I” and other personal pronouns in favor of specific nouns.
For example, for a research paper, the original rule was to avoid saying, “In my study, I found out …” Instead, the rule dictated that you exclude all personal pronouns: “In this study, the author found …”
Today, personal pronouns are routinely used in various forms of writing. This includes scientific and technical writing, as well as some journal articles (e.g., case reports), and it also characterises the style used in blog writing, business communication, and other related areas.
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