I had to actually grit my teeth and grunt a few times before I could get comfortable writing the occasional sentence fragment or otherwise intentionally indulge in “bad” grammar.

Once I realized all my favorite authors were doing it, I took a long hard look at what authentic voice is. But it was still very difficult for me to get over the habits well meaning teachers drilled into me in school!

These days, I’m comfortable trying to put myself in my readers' heads, to ask myself how my writing will be received rather than to worry about what a grammar book says.