This fourth post giving advice to novice writers is this: know the rules. Know grammar–it is your RESPONSIBILITY to know grammar if you want to publish your writing, period.

Know stylistic regularities, such as what isn’t a dialogue tag and what is (only words that imply speech. “Smiled,” “grinned,” and so on? NOT dialogue tags.)

Also, read a lot. Read the classics and learn how it’s done. Then treat the rules, for good reason, like more like guidelines.

Yes, Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Barbossa is one of my favorite villains, and he would have made a wonderful writer. He knows the rules, and he knows when to disregard them.

What rules of writing am I discussing here? Well . . .

It’s ok not to write every single day. (You should write regularly, though.)

Use adverbs when they are needed-more sparingly than you have the impulse to.

End some sentences with prepositions.

Understand that, sometimes, it’s easier, simpler, quicker, and less obtrusive to “tell” rather than “show,” and that “showing” won’t always be worth the impact on pacing or flow, especially if what you’d be showing is insignificant.

Fragments? Fragments can be fine here and there.

And yes, by all means, start an occasional sentence with a conjunction.

The rules are meant to keep you from going off the rails. They target things that, stylistically, tend to be easy, lazy choices or are noticeable if overused. They warn us about stylistic choices writers tend to beat into the ground if they aren’t intentional about them.

So know the rules, then break them intentionally, to create a particular effect. That’s what it’s all about.