How Writing Rules Kill Creativity (And What We Can Do About It)

We’ve all heard them—those rigid writing rules that seem to follow us from middle school through college. Don’t start a sentence with “but.” Don’t end one with a preposition. And of course, don’t use “I.” At some point, writing becomes less about saying something meaningful and more about avoiding red marks from a teacher. The problem is, when you strip away a student’s voice, you often strip away their interest too.

I remember writing assignments where I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t figure out how to say it “the right way.” The result was a watered-down version of my original idea, edited to sound formal and distant—because that’s what I thought academic writing had to be. Honestly, it felt like I was writing as someone else. Not only did this make writing harder, it made me care a lot less about what I was writing.

Kimberly N. Parker touches on this in Bad Ideas About Writing when she describes how her students felt disconnected from their work. She writes that many of them “ceased to care about writing with a sense of freedom” once they were told to stop writing in the first person. When writing becomes about following a formula, creativity gets pushed to the side. That’s not just sad—it’s a huge missed opportunity.

We talk a lot about helping students find their voice, but then we turn around and tell them to keep that voice out of their writing. How does that make sense? Good writing is often personal. It’s reflective, it’s engaging, and yes—it sometimes uses “I.” When students are allowed to write in their own voice, they tend to care more about what they’re saying. That shows up in the quality of their work.

Julia Molinari also addresses this in her research. She argues that traditional academic rules discourage students from seeing writing as an active, creative process. Instead of discovering meaning through revision and exploration, students feel like they’re just performing a task. And when something feels like a task, it’s natural to put in the bare minimum. You’re not trying to say something meaningful—you’re just trying to pass.

But what if writing didn’t feel like a chore? What if students were encouraged to take risks, to explore their thoughts, and to develop their own style? That doesn’t mean throwing out structure or expectations completely. It means making space for individuality. It means teaching students how to write effectively with their voice, not despite it.

I’m not saying all writing should be casual or conversational. There’s definitely a time and place for formal tone. But even formal writing can carry a strong personal presence. The best essays I’ve read—both in class and out—were ones where I could hear the writer thinking, where their passion or curiosity came through the page.

When students feel like their voice matters, they engage more. And when they engage more, their writing improves. It’s that simple. So maybe the real problem isn’t that students are bad writers—it’s that the rules we give them are getting in the way.

What do you think?
Have writing rules ever made you feel less connected to your work? What would happen if students were given more room to take creative risks?