As an English major and having spent many, many years steeped in great works of literature (Didn't I just break a rule?), I find that I adhere to the osmosis school of literacy. Or is it the Supreme Court rule of pornography? Oh, well, I know it when I see it. I recognize when it's good and, lord help me, I recognize when it's bad, bad bad. That's why I spend so much time re-writing my own stuff - trying to get rid of the bad, bad, bad. I trust my instincts because they come from a base of reading a lot of good writing, not what I have judged to be good writing, but what the ages have judged so. It's not a very analytical or scientific way to make a decision, and it doesn't really answer your question, CC, but what is universally considered good writing, whether by teachers or critics or history, is what I prefer to use as a guideline.I leave it to others to analyze and set up rules which can be useful in reshaping what I've written. I've read your writing, CC, and you seem to have good instincts. The 'rules' can help you revise and reshape what needs to be improved.
Good writing is the communication of thoughts and ideas, not just in the whole of a piece, but starting with each sentence. A sentence that is not put together well, so that it communicates clearly, cannot lead to clear communication in paragraphs and total works. When we write, we have to know what we want to say in every sentence and every paragraph, as well as the entire piece and how all those sentences and paragraphs will contribute to the overall statement. We have to say it so that those who read it, get it. If we're writing fiction, we also have to give it movement and pacing, and we have to vary the sentence structure to entice the reader to keep reading. It ain't easy. (See, I broke another rule.) It would be as wrong to adhere to a rule that says if you must do this, only do it once a page, as it would be to follow a rule that says: you must use 1 simple sentence, 1 complex sentence, 1 compounnd sentence and 1 compound- complex sentence in every 10 lines. I knew a teacher once who used something similar to that to teach high school students how to write. He was very succesful in improving their writing skills, but he did not arbitrarily dictate, as I just did, the frequency of use.
Finally, I'll say that I own the book that Schoolmarm has been quoting and refer to it often, but it is only one of many sources that I consult including my Beta reader, Geri, with whom I have a running argument over certain punctuation rules. They help me recognize my mistakes and, I hope, improve my writing, but they are tools and guidelines, not the ten commandments.
Jude
