Robert,
Your advice reminds me of my first military editor after technical training school. She essential said, "You have to LEARN the Rules, before you can break them."
What I don;t think kids, or even some adults understand is the Big Picture of Writing. People simply WRITE to Communicate.
One major fact people forget or don't notice is A Living Language changes over time. Latin is a DEAD language because it would not change.
English, on the other hand, is a Living Language because it rolls with the punches and grows. Look at how many words in American English came from other languages originally.
Grammar has probably always been overrated because language and the way people speak change overtime. And, some words once unacceptable are okay now like - ain't.
In 2011, I can't imagine anyone wanting to write like Shakespeare. I'm not British, so I don't have to pretend to like Shakespeare.
The real sticklers on English from the 1920s and 1930s wouldn't just roll over in their graves - they would rotate to see someone write LOL or IMHO - but, since language changes- over time such abbreviations might become acceptable in books, magazines, newspapers and formal writing.
About the busted paragraphs ? English teachers teach to put all the associated thoughts lumped and clumped together, which means you can have 30 long sentences in one paragraph.
In military journalism school, one tactic we were taught is you can "Bust Up" paragraphs for one simple reason: length. The traditional way leads to long, lengthy blocks of type.
When the eye sees a large block of type, it skims rather than reads or skips the paragraph all together.
Journalism teachers taught us not to be afraid to break one long paragraph into two or three smaller ones.
Since the overall purpose of writing is communication: the journalistic way of "busting up" paragraphs speeds up communication - smaller paragraphs are quicker to read.
Spelling - no easy way around this. Spell checkers are software; not people, thus, a spell checker might get a word wrong.
Americans spell theater and British spell theatre - the spell checker isn't going to catch the Union Jack or the red neck discrepancy.
Punctuation seems subjective. Some people say too many commas and some people don't ever want you to use commas. Some editors don't mind semi colons, while others get gray hairs.
Get the spelling and the flow of your message and I believe you will get your point across.
I don't think I agree about the studying horrendous language. Gangster rap might be okay for music, but who really wants to sit down and read several paragraphs of obscene language.
Growing up in the Ozarks, we "reckon," and have our own spin on the language. To New England blue bloods, people in the Ozarks might be backwoods hicks, but people in the Ozarks usually tend to be on the same page when it comes to the way they think, talk and write - and, I reckon it works fer us.
Ernest Hemingway, the novelist, wasn't an English teacher; he had been a working reporter for the Kansas City Star.
Hemingway definitely had a way with words. He wrote simple sentences and got his point across. It is said that many young writers became frustrated because they couldn't copy his style.
Therein lies the secret: Every writer develops his or her own style.
Sam
