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There may not be rules but there are conventions. These conventions are rarely very strict but they do help communicate your ideas. Understanding them and unde
by abritinthebay 9y ago
There may not be rules but there are conventions.
These conventions are rarely very strict but they do help communicate your ideas. Understanding them and understanding the impact of not using them is an important set of knowledge if you want to be clear and well understood in your writing.
It is similar to good typography in that it isn't required but that it will often make the reader enjoy or understand the work more when reading.
Obviously there have been many great writers who knew how and why they were breaking those conventions. E. E. Cummings was a notable example.
- cryptonector 9y agoYou're saying only the qualified are allowed to break conventions you were taught. You are free to follow that; I am free to not.
- cryptonector 9y agoThe downvotes show the grammar nazis abound. I'm with Churchill, who famously said of not ending sentences with prepositions that "that is the sort of thing up with which I shall not put!".
- abritinthebay 9y agoNothing about allowed there. It’s about communication & understanding. You are free to break whatever convention you like. It will just effect your communication clarity. Understanding that (and how and why too) will help you be more effective. It’s no different to saying “you can program it that way if you want but understanding the conventions & methods other people use may help you have more readable and efficient code”.
- cryptonector 9y agoReally. Whitespace around em dashes hurts my ability to communicate? Please explain.
- abritinthebay 9y agoHow are you failing to understand "the reader will expect certain conventions so following those will make it easier to communicate effectively with them"? This is not a hard concept to grasp.
- labster 9y agoI think you meant to write e e cummings.
- privong 9y agoIt seems E. E. Cummings tended to prefer his name capitalized (though obviously he did not always follow consistent usage): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings#Name_and_capitalization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings#Name_and_capita...