...or rather, every one of us has a little grammar cop inside our heads that makes us wince when we see certain words jammed together in particular sequences that violate the "laws" we've internalised.

It's automatic, just as our ears resolve (absent structural damage) music into tones and chords, based on deep structures within our brains.

Just as music may, and usually does, contain moments of dissonance and consonance, stories may involve "bad" grammar and be perfectly "correct," as long as the parts that make us wince, or feel tension, are "released" back into consonance.

The musician's skill lies in knowing when to build tension, and when to resolve it, and the author's skill lies in knowing how words sound when strung together. There are no "bad" notes, nor are there "bad" words, just places in a piece of music or a story where particular notes or words don't belong.

For most of us who are not savants, whether in music or in writing, we have to learn and practice to internalise the situations wherein and whereby these rules can be exploited to particular effect.

Teachers can help. Studying the works of masters often helps, in both areas of creativity.

I highly commend Flowers for Algernon, a short story (later adapted into a novel) by Daniel Keyes to your attention. In it, the author uses language, grammar, and diction to make a very telling point about the central character, Charlie Gordon, whose one excursion into the science lab will bring tears to your eyes.

Puddin'
-----------
Q: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
A: Practice, practice, practice.