Writing Myths

In Chapter Three of his book, Preparing to Teach Writing, James D. Williams talks about the "writing myths" that hold back young writers. For example, students often believe that they cannot begin sentences with a conjunction or end a sentence with a preposition. I believe that a lot of these myths are taught by teachers in language arts classrooms, often because it's easier to teach what not to do than what to do. Unfortunately, once a student learns these myths, it can be very difficult to un-learn them.

Here's an example. I had been taught throughout my schooling that one can never begin a sentence with "because." It wasn't until I took a junior-level composition class in undergrad that I learned that this was a myth. There are complete sentences that start with "because": "Because John was late to work, he was fired." The reason we were taught not to begin a sentence with "because" was to avoid fragments, like: "John was fired. Because he was late to work." However, instead of taking the time to explain the difference between complete sentences and fragments and under what circumstances it was allowable to start a sentence with "because," most teachers just simplify it by telling students that they can never begin sentences with "because."

Myths like these are one reason that students can become turned off to writing. They learn that the English language is a labyrinthine maze of "dos" and "don'ts", and instead of being taught that language is ever-evolving, they learn that language consists of The Rules, and if they don't learn The Rules, they can't be good writers. "Rule #5076: No split infinitives." Well, the truth of the matter is that no one cares about split infinitives, and it's okay to end a sentence with a preposition, and if the tone of the writing calls for it, even fragments can be okay. For real.

Related link: The Myths of Writing. This page is part of a larger writing website hosted by Rutgers, called WIRE. The site has many useful links, including suggestions for creating effective assignments and tips for first-year writing instructors. On the Myths of Writing page, they address several common misconceptions about writing (such as "writing is a linear, tidy, left-to-right process and should be same for everyone").