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Too many people think grammar is a set of arbitrary rules pounded into their skulls at school.
It isn't; grammar is the way language works, its very structure, integral to its meaning.
Of course there are two dialects of a language: the spoken and the written. The grammars are not the same. Spoken language relies on many cues -- intonation, gesture, expression, pause, and many others -- to clarify meaning, remove ambiguities, and enhance, which are not possible in the written language.
Texting and other quick communications are often dialogues--polylogues??--where confusion can be clarified in real time.
A printed (or digital paper) book therefore relies of "formal" grammar to make sure that what is down on the page is what you meant to say, and that the reader will get that self-same meaning.
For a writer, language is the tool. If you don't know how to use it, you're in trouble from the start. You can completey fail to convey your intended meaning, and frustrate your reader(s) to the extent that you drive them away.
You can write simply and clearly; or you can write in baroque or ormulu styles; but if you write unintelligibly, you have failed.
And if there are any typos above, it's Friday evening where I am and I am enjoying my third Aussie beer.
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