A recent Slashdot poll asked readers what should be in a 101 course that everyone had to pass, with a wide variety of acceptable options. Like most of these polls, both the question and the options are set up poorly — no context, an option that doesn’t work (“other, listed below” implies an AJAX-y box which one can fill in), vague options (“basic math & science”), etc.
Being a writer, I gravitated toward the “grammar/communication” option. I do admit that I first moved my mouse pointer to “computers,” but like several posters indicated in the poll comments, we already have an overabundance of Computers 101 courses that tend to be nothing more than glorified Microsoft Office training sessions.
There’s nothing wrong with IM/text-speak — it’s acceptable to tell someone “k np” or ask “how r u” because of the short, real-time nature of instant messaging and texting. It’s a different story when a professional level of writing is required, even if it’s an “informal” memo going around the office. In written communication, you want your reader to focus on the message, not spend time deciphering your paragraphs.
Many times it’s because we’re in such a hurry to hit the send or print button. We’re always working on something that was due yesterday, or needs to go out ASAP because the server is going down in 30 minutes. The art of patience is, well, a lost art.
Write once, edit twice. Find a colleague to review your draft — preferably someone who doesn’t know the backstory, someone who will read it the way your audience will. It might delay dissemination for 15 minutes, a few hours, maybe a day, but it’s worth the trouble.
Personally, I think a book like Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynn Truss should be required reading. (I know there are shelves of books like this, but Truss’s is one that I’m familiar with and actually have on my shelf.) I’d rather force that on someone than a copy of Strunk & White, which can get into some really mundane, archaic, and occasionally misleading grammar usage. Some of my college-level writing courses used Diane Acker’s A Writer’s Reference, which is a more middle-of-the-road text.
So the next time you’re writing something, take a few minutes to re-edit it twice — even if you’re confident it’s finished — and have someone else take a look at it. And don’t forget some light reading, as suggested above.
