Writers’ quirks…

Some writers eschew semicolons. Others split infinitives, use dangling participles, or mix past and present tenses in one sentence. Some will use a comma before “and” ending in series—the Oxford comma—while others adamantly refuse to do so. Some writers are strict followers of the rules about point of view (POV); others mangle them.

Following rules is neither a sufficient nor necessary condition for having a successful fiction book. Telling a good story isn’t a sufficient one, but it’s absolu...