Ben,
   To me, the absolutely most important "Myth rules" to debunk are "A
sentence is a complete thought" and "A writer should avoid repetition."
Taken together, they do enormous harm.
   If you haven't already, check out Ed Schuster's "Breaking the rules:
liberating writers through innovative grammar instruction." One very
helpful section is on "definitions that do not define", and he extends
the mythrules out to rhetorical applications, like paragraphing. Also
check out the Language Mavens chapter in Pinker's The Language
Instinct.
   Two important points to make by way of corrolary: pay attention to what
good writers do; correctness is a fairly empty virtue, so it should
never come at the expense of the fuller virtues,like meaning,
engagement, coherence, clarity.
   One of the easisest ways to help people is to free them from
misunderstanding. It would be good to have a comprehensive list.

Craig



The following are fifteen so-called grammar and punctuation
> "rules" which are not rules at all.  When I sent this list to
> the elementary school teachers whom I teach about grammar and
> punctuation, they were astounded:
>
>      1. Never use "Because,""And," or "But" to start a sentence.
>      2. Fragments are always considered an error in writing.
>      3. Where you pause, put a comma.
>      4. Where you breathe, put a comma.
>      5. Never put a comma before "and" in a series.
>      6. The semicolon is an outdated mark of punctuation.
>      7. The most important part of speech is the noun.
>      8. The pronouns "everybody," "somebody," "anybody" are plural.
>      9. The pronoun "who" is always first, and the pronoun "whom" is
>         always last.
>     10. Dashes and hyphens are interchangeable marks of punctuation.
>     11. Periods and commas can go inside or outside of quotation marks.
>     12. Never end a sentence with a preposition.
>     13. Never split an infinitive.
>     14. Passive voice means you are too casual in your sentences.
>     15. Grammar checkers on computers are usually correct.
>
> If you have any others to add, let me know.
>
>         Ben Varner
>
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