I read for relaxation and to broaden my horizons – knowledge, perceptual, conceptual and other, possibly undiscovered limits to my world.
I have no training in the arts of the letter beyond high school and a voracious appetite for reading, yet I believe I am able to distinguish between a good and a bad novel, a good and a bad poem – between writing that is “to purpose”, and that which is not. Writing that is “to purpose” consists of pieces that meet their goals of entertaining, informing, adding beauty, or whatever the case may be. Certainly there are “purposeful” writers who bend or ignore the rules of grammar to suit their work or their message. There are writers who display genius or inspiration by manipulating the language in ways that cannot be accounted for within the rules of grammar. Some writers use no capitalisation, some use no punctuation, for some prosody does not apply to their verse.
I have, however, never come across a “purposeful” writer who espouses a lack of knowledge of grammar and spelling as a virtue. It seems to me that to do so, would be to acknowledge one’s ignorance, and then to proceed to insist that nothing is to be gained by alleviating one’s lack of knowledge!
Yes, levels of education differ.
Yes, a genius-level idea for a story does not automatically imply having a PhD in English.
Yes, everyone should be able to express their creativity freely.
But – being given the opportunity to learn something new and then insisting that grammar and spelling are irrelevant to good writing smacks of petulance.
Rules do more than restrict – rules guide and provide a framework for interpretation. When somebody who clearly understands rules breaks them, it adds a level of meaning to their work. When someone with no understanding of the rules announces that the rules are unnecessary and a stumbling block to creativity, the only thing that is being displayed is a tiresome unwillingness to learn – ignorance by choice.
Do you really imagine that the modernist Picasso was incapable of classical art?
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I absolutely agree with you. I’ve said the exact same thing, only I took longer and cussed a lot more. :)
“a tiresome unwillingness to learn” – bears repeating
Nice criticism. One of the best quotes I have ever heard was by Picasso. It goes, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” People should always endeavor to improve themselves, learn new things, expand their mind, etc. There are reasons for rules being in place. Rules can be broken, but you have to know what they are first, and why they are there to begin with. If you break them, then you have to be able to say why AND convince your audience that it does not in any way detract from the final work. If a poet decides to use punctuation in their poem, then they better use it correctly and consistently throughout. There’s not much excuse anymore for misspelling words. There are dictionaries and software packages that will assist with that.
I like how your piece is essentially a case in point to what it discusses. I found your writing style to be fluid in that it makes its statement, supports its points and manages to carry a subtle emotional emphasis of frustration, without seeming like gratuitous venting. Good job, keep writing.
I feel perhaps that you should clarify just what you mean by “purposeful” and its applicability to different genres. You use quotaion marks rather a lot, is this necessary? The “adding beauty” in your listing is a little vague – adding beauty to what exactly. I feel this could be a good piece, but needs to be clearer and more defined. Good luck!
Here!! Here!! Well done!! I could not agree more. I tend to be a stickler for grammar, punctuation, etc., not only when it comes to my writing, but other peoples as well. Unfortunately in today’s ultra casual society, things like appearance, grammar, spelling, etc., seem to be cast aside for a less demanding population. Your piece is a great metaphor for life in general in the new millenium. One fact that you point out, which many should take to heart, is the difference between rules being broken by one who understands them, and by one who does not, this speaks volumes. As for whether or not this is the right category for this piece, I would say that it could work equally as well here, or in “Journal, Diary, and Blogging”. Nicely done.
This is a good thing for people to read. TS Eliot has an essay regarding the importance of tradition and how, in echo of what you say, one must learn what came before them in order to have a direction of where to go, whether that direction is to dig deeper into what has already been done (thereby doing it better) or moving in an intentionally opposite direction in order to explore what hasn’t been done.
Any direction requires a starting point. Ignoring tradition and rules necessitates that the the ignorance is therefore directionless. I know you’re speaking of grammar, but in general – like in poetry or other fiction – I wouldn’t personally go as far as asking, rhetorically, whether Picasso was incapable of classical art (I do in fact not know), but would rather ask, rhetorically, whether Picasso would have been incapable of engaging with and entertaining classical art. The latter I think better advocates what ought to be done, demanding education and understanding rather than actual mastery of craft.
thanks for sharing. =)
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