Quote:
Originally Posted by crich70
My biggest teacher on how to write properly is the written word itself. There are the rigid rules of Grammar and punctuation and there are the written works of authors like Dickens, Twain, Wells, Verne, Clarke, Asimov, etc. I choose to pay attention more to the authors who have had books published and whose work I enjoy reading than to a rigid set of rules.
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I think the fallacy with that approach is that the authors who chose to ignore the rules of grammar did so with knowledge of what the rules were and found that the rules stifled the message they were trying to convey.
The rules of grammar are designed to ensure that communication is understandable. Isaac Asimov, to use one of your examples, deviated from the rules of grammar only after many years of writing that adhered to the rules, that is, after having mastered the rules. Twain deviated to make a point.
I also think you mistake the rules of grammar for a straitjacket. They are not rigid, unbendable rules; they are guides to ensure what you write can be understood by any reader. The rules are always in flux; the only immutable rule of grammar is to write clearly so that any reader can understand your message.