Want to Break the Grammar Rules? You Can, If…

My older brother, Kyle, is a troll.

He replies to about a third of my Weekly Wink emails with a snarky comment. Here’s the one I received after this tip…

“You didn’t capitalize the first word in the email title. This is the problem with you people, you guys tell everyone what they should do, but you all never live up to the standards you folks set for others. Y’all should be ashamed of yourselves.”

First off, KYLE, it’s called the email subject line, not the email title.

Second, thanks for taking my tip to write to one person seriously. 🙄

Third, I actually chose not to capitalize that first word on purpose. 

Here’s why…

You may have noticed I’m a stickler for grammar rules.*

You may have also noticed I don’t always follow them.

That’s because I’m a copywriter, not a composition teacher. 

I care more about the message — the voice, the tone, the meaning behind it — than the mechanics.

When it comes to your marketing copy, writing > editing every time.

For example, I chose not to capitalize the subject line of said email (“hey, you guys!”) because I thought:

• It was appropriately cheeky.
• It would stand out more in your inbox.

Now, there are other ways I could have chosen to be cheeky or make my subject line stand out. I could have written something cRaZy or obscene. 😱

But while that may have gotten lots of opens, it would also have gotten lots of unsubscribes.

Maybe our copywriting equation looks more like this: relevance > creativity > correctness.

So, how do you know when you’re allowed to be more creative than correct in your copy?

You May Choose to Break the Grammar Rules When:

• You want to sound more conversational.
• You want to catch people’s attention.
• You believe it will make your message more clear, concise, or compelling.

Just remember: In order to break the grammar rules, you must first know them. 

So keep reading The Weekly Wink. 😉

Bottom Line: Be a Writer First, an Editor Second. (And Don’t Be a Kyle.)

*I do firmly believe — and the data supports — that good grammar is important for business owners. Read my post (and listen to my podcast with Davey & Krista) on “Why Bad Grammar Is Costing You Business.”

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