Effective writers--professionals and students--break traditionally taught rules frequently. So why teach students rules that writers don't actually follow? English teachers bear the responsibility of offering young writers guidance--of teaching them stylistics "rules." But as thoughtful writing teachers, they are also responsible for observing what effective writers actually do, and if that contradicts the rules they are teaching, then the rules must be overruled. Otherwise, their students will come away from their classes with misconceptions about good writing. In this article, the author shows how popular authors break rules and why students should be invited to do the same. (Contains 1 figure.)