Jan 28 2009
What Writers Can Learn From Trail Signs
I was hiking with my daughter when I saw the sign on the side of the trail. I quickly realized that the first sentence was not only for hikers. Its message was for writers.
The fact is, every year the world exacts a toll of writing victims from the unwary, the unprepared and the unfit….
- Literary agents and publishers turn up their noses at wonderful story and book ideas because the writers don’t know how to present their ideas and make glaring punctuation, grammar or spelling mistakes in their queries.
- Superiors at work shake their heads and make negative performance notes on employees who write rambling, error-saturated, off-target reports, sales letters and other business communications.
- People turn away from blogs they would otherwise subscribe to because the blog writers haven’t learned how to convey ideas in succinct, logical, compelling and interesting ways.
This list could go on and on. The point is, too many people with the raw talent to become excellent writers – perhaps even famous authors – fail to achieve their goals because they are unwary, unprepared and unfit in terms of writing skills. Too many people in the business and professional arenas are “held back” because they are unwary, unprepared and unfit when it comes to the foundational communication skill that has become so deadly important since the advent of the personal computer and e-mail: writing.
Why do so many would-be authors, bloggers and business people who must write at work think they can survive and prosper without learning the basic skill sets involved? Would brain surgeons keep their licenses if they just “felt their way” through surgeries? Would accountants stay in business if they depended on their intuition alone? Would fine artists sell any paintings without knowing the basics of drawing, perspective and color?
I’m amazed that so many otherwise intelligent men and women think they can become successful writers without first learning and practicing the basics of grammar, spelling, punctuation, style, organization, format, point of view and so on! Such an attitude is the height of hubris.
Be wary of the dangers lurking out there in wait for those who haven’t taken the time to learn how to write effectively. Prepare yourself by learning the rules, the techniques and the strategies of powerful writing. (Read good writing books and manuals, such as those you’ll find here.) Make yourself a fit writer by regularly giving your writing muscles a good workout. (The Word Shot exercises I publish on this blog every Monday are just one excellent way to do this.)
Learn. Practice. Sharpen your skills. Be a winner – not a victim.
I can also recommend Strunk and White - Elements of Style - it’s my writing bible! Although I don’t think everybody rates it that highly. I also have a stock of grammar, and usage, dictionaries on my shelf that I refer to regularly. And I still can’t get it right all the time!
“Why do so many would-be authors, bloggers and business people who must write at work think they can survive and prosper without learning the basic skill sets involved?”
Probably because teachers don’t teach grammar and the rules of writing (they may not even know them themselves) and may have taken the line that rules “stifle creativity.”
I’ve never been a fan of “nontraditional” writing in any form: authors who don’t use quotation marks to set of dialogue, or who don’t believe in paragraphs, or who switch tenses (sometimes even within the same paragraph!). I’ve often stopped reading a story, no matter how engaging, if the writing is terrible.
I think every writer should spend some time learning how to copyedit — my first stint as a copy editor taught me how to be a better writer.
My favorite reference books are Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook.
Well durn. The problem is that sometimes even if you were a straight “A” student in English… forty, or more,years ago, punctuation tends to fall by the wayside if you don’t write on a regular basis.
I can use words just fine. At least I think I can. Punctuation? That is an entirely different story.I just never can figure out where all those little critters belong I think I write in the same cadence in which I speak which is one long sentence until I draw a breath or pass out from lack of oxygen whichever comes first does old age allow some leeway on the subject?
Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. No, I am not going back to school at sixty something so just fergit it. I swear by grammar check in word and if I get rich someday I am buying one of them thar ” we figure it out for you” programs.
Oddly enough, my biggest problem is, well I can’t remember the word right now but it is when you squish two words together. I speak in seperate words. ” She is not going to the dance as planned because she is no longer interested in such frivolity”.
Strunk and White - Elements of Style is a must.
Another gem is The Lively Art of Writing by Lucile Vaughan Payne