Is it okay to have sentence fragments? I'm writing first person pov and I have a few places where i write fragments, like shes having an internal conversation almost. Example:
Instead, I thought of what color I would paint my nails if I could. Maybe something shiny, with glitter. But then, that might be too middle school for my age. Perhaps a spring color. Lilac. That was it. I liked lilac.

I think that looks fine. It doesn't interrupt the flow of your writing.

Nothing wrong with them. They can be a good tool to use as can sentences that aren't 100% correct technically, yet aren't fragments. That is, as long you have a good grasp of grammar.

of course they're ok... they're used successfully all the time, by the best writers... pretty much anything will work, if you can write well enough...

I don't like fragments unless they used for thoughts, personally.

Use fragments sparingly. Use them only when it causes profound good for your work. If you use them willy-nilly, it may compromise the integrity of the narration.

Any technique is only as good as its use allows it to be. Aim for all your techniques to only be used where they are the most effective.

I use fragments only in dialogue because it's often the way we speak. Otherwise, I wouldn't use them. I'd think about who I was writing for in terms of audience and publication. Fragments are definitely more casual.

I think you can use fragments whenever you feel they're more appropriate. Sometimes setting something aside as its own sentence, such as your "Lilac." really adds the emphasis you're looking for. However, you need to make sure the meaning is absolutely clear. The reason fragments are wrong in the first place is that they leave out vital, meaning-giving parts of the sentence. But as long as those parts are elsewhere, and the fragment isn't a dependent clause just hanging out on its own, then I don't see a problem with using them occasionally. But only occasionally, otherwise you.



:)