It’s peak vacay season, and in the spirit of all things sunscreeny and coconutty, I thought it’d be fun to compile a list of all those pesky writing rules we writers would like to break away from every once in awhile (grammatical structure of previous sentence included in said vacation – ahem!). So, here are some rules to think about breaking on a “writing rule vacay:”
-Mixing Metaphors. As welcome as a soft chair at the end of a touchdown.
-Clichés. Why think outside the box when cookie-cutter solutions are staring you in the face?
-Subject/Verb Disagreement. Because sometimes the expressions that we pour our heart into just needs freedom.
-Exclamation Points! In excess!!! Because you CAN!!!!!!
-DITTO ALL CAPS!!!!
-Sentence Fragments. Yeah. Went there. Did that.
-Adverbs. Who among us doesn’t truly, wholly, and thoroughly miss them?
-Overwrought Phrases. Just the thought of them makes my pulse quicken, my heart race, and tears of joy leap into my once-dead but now – maybe, now? – glistening, glimmering eyes.
-Passive Verbs. Because those sentences were constructed by us to be that way, that’s why.
-POV Hopping. You shouldn’t have to stay in one person’s head the entire time. I rather enjoy knowing what other people think.
-Plotlessness. Because following a story that never goes anywhere can be
-Two-Dimensional Characters. For real – don’t we all know someone we suspect is really 2D in the privacy of his/her own home?
And finally:
-Rhetorical Questions. Why not?
Do you have a few you’d like to add? Please, comment away! J
