I'm writing a fairly simple piano piece which has a repeated pattern which crosses staves/hands. I think it looks clearer musically to write it with cross-staff beaming as in the first bar below, but I suspect that others, particularly those less confident reading music, might prefer the staves to be written separately as in the second bar.
Are there any rules/guidelines for the use of cross-staff beaming? I guess it's partly a matter of opinion, but I do want it to be as clear as possible for a wide range of readers, and as it's a fairly easy piece I don't want to put off less experienced players. If anyone can point me to any hard and fast rules, or something from a grade syllabus, that'd be great. I don't recall being taught about cross-staff beaming myself, but I think it might have confused me as a beginner.