I also believe that eventually, 'and' will become like 'said.' No one will bother noticing its presence.
I appreciate the effort, Sack-a-doo. I'm beginning to realize just how little about "fiction grammar and punctuation" I know. I always thought the rules for grammar and punctuation were followed in all writing. Fragments, I knew, were allowed for creative effect, but it seems many authors don't care about any grammar rules as long as the readers can understand the meaning in their book. I guess that's part of what makes writing an art? I'll still try to follow as many rules as possible in my writing, because for me writing doesn't make sense without them, but I'll work on being more open-minded when reading other people's work. Who knows, maybe one day I'll develop my own "don't sweat the rules if it's well written and easy to read" attitude.
In general, the rules are the same for all writing. Fiction writers are more inclined to bend them because they're trying to get across more than just information, but that doesn't make it "correct". It also takes a real master to create a readable book that breaks rules more serious than missing out a few commas or using a few sentence fragments. For an averagely-skilled writer, you're better off sticking to the rules. All my opinion, obviously.
I've always believed that a writer has to know the rules well before s/he can break them effectively.
