Search “writing conventions,” and you will find them defined as technical rules and standards that writers must follow if they want anyone to read and understand their work. “Rules” and “must” seem like fighting words these days, but like it or not, proper writing still matters and it still depends on writing conventions. I remember years ago (pre-web, even) hearing someone on the radio gleefully describing a doctoral dissertation in English. According to the dissertation, rules of grammar and other writing conventions no longer matter. People can communicate in writing just fine without them. After all, look at advertisements, billboards, comic books, and all kinds of other writing that would never pass an English class. Why gleeful? The man on the radio pointed out that the author had to observe all those proper writing conventions in order to get his dissertation accepted by the graduate college. What are conventions? Among other things, “convention” means a kind of behavior that most people in a society consider correct or proper, a traditional method or style. For example, it used to be that everyone wore hats whenever they went out in public. Americans, at least, no longer follow that convention, but we still … Continue reading →