Blogs and Instant Messengers: the Bane of Good Writing Habits
In today’s media dominated world, blogs and instant messengers have dulled down the importance of proper spelling and grammar. Why is it that today’s internet writers are so sloppy? No offense, but this industry needs a major overhaul.
Blogs: Blurt and Submit
In this information age of cyberspace, blogs have made it easy for a writer to get his/her thoughts out there into the world to be seen. Internet sites that provide such places for writers to do so do not monitor the content for spelling, grammar, structure, or coherence of thought. In fact, most blogs are nothing but venues that encourage freedom from the laws of writing. Nearly every writer on a blog site uses it to blurt and submit. The only benefits are that the writer gets to see his/her work in a public domain instantaneously, and that most that carry on blogging do so to get into the habit of writing daily.
The cons outweigh the pros the way an elephant outweighs a fly. When a writer writes without linear thought, without a purpose, and without proofreading for mistakes, that writer cheats him/herself out of the ability to be considered for publication by real publishers. A magazine editor will not consider an article that has not been well researched. A book editor will not want to struggle past the first page of a query letter that has five spelling mistakes and three run on sentences. In short, if bloggers want to be taken seriously as writers, then they will have to start creating more dynamic prose that is linear in purpose and thought, and is clean of spelling errors and misused words.
Instant Messengers: Blurring the Lines of Proper Communication
If a writer spends any amount of time messaging, bad writing habits that are used in the messenger will carry over into the writing. Improper slang, lack of punctuation, and lax usage of the backspace key are just a few of the infectious habits. Wrong homonyms can disturb writing quality and confuse readers. No Capitalization makes a writer lazy and inefficient. Let’s face it, instant messaging is not a place for a responsible writer to be, unless that writer is there to practice writing complete sentences with proper punctuation and coherent thoughts.
Internet usage has made most writers indolent and nonchalant. The world of literature is no place for such material.
Good Writing Habits: Get Into Them
If you’re a writer and you want to be considered for publication somewhere, or to see your work in print, then take yourself seriously. Don’t blurt and submit; proofread and re-write your material. Develop your writing skills by practising. Write complete sentences. Don’t use words if you don’t understand them, write exactly what you want to say, and put it into perspective for your readers. Above all else, proofread. Analyze what you’ve written. Does it say what you want it to say? Does it say it succinctly and with purpose? If so, then you’ve done your job. There is nothing better than to read something and enjoy it’s ‘aah’ moment: the moment when writer and reader connect in a clear and binding fashion.
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December 9th, 2008 at 1:55 am
I agree with everything you wrote——I’m guilty of becoming a lazy writer. Another thing I’m guilty of is letting Microsoft word fix all of my errors. I really have to force myself to pay more attention.
December 9th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I see your writing coming to truth every day. People who don’t know how to spell easy words, lik orthodontist, ones who nearly can’t say ‘to’ or ‘too’ without using a number. It’s rather disgusting that anyone can let themselves drop that far.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Grant:
I think for some of us it has become a habit but I also believe that we should make it a more serious responsibility to proofread. However, to call it disgusting when you yourself have just misspelled the word ‘like’ or to write ones who nearly can’t say ‘to’ or ‘too,’ when in fact you are not saying, you are spelling. So pay attention to your own spelling before you express your hypocrisy out in the open!
December 9th, 2008 at 9:54 am
You make some good points, Adam. However, you do need to proofread your own work before you submit it, i.e. “habbit”.
Personally, I write articles and blogs in Word, check for typos and meaning, and copy and paste the pieces to notepad to avoid messing up the HTML. Only then do I post onsite.
This sounds long-winded but paid work comes in on the strength of my websites. Isn’t that what it’s all about… ?
December 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I couldn’t agree more. I proof-read my work but often my proofing isn’t enough. I usually find an error when the item is posted.
Thanks for sharing.
December 9th, 2008 at 11:01 am
What a great article!!! And how true it is!
Jax
December 9th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Thanks Vivienne for recognising the spelling error I made. I’ve just submitted a fix for it.
Thanks everyone else for enjoying my article. Much appreciated.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Great article, some good points.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Hi Adam, this is an excellent article!
December 9th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
I have caught myself committing such crimes in instant messengers. As of lately, I have been practicing complete thoughts as one message, instead of the usual 2-3 word bursting method that seems to have become prevalent.
Great article
December 10th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Fortunately, I don’t know how to get around on blogs…
and I hardly ever PM any more.
Does that count for good habits?
Lightly, Daniel
December 11th, 2008 at 4:53 am
My 15 year old has mastered the art of multitasking. She can be watching a video over you tube, chatting with 5 or 6 friends at once, and she brings along a sketch book to fill all of the boring gaps. Oh and she has music (or some facsmilie thereof) blaring and the TV on.
But if hubby or I look over her shoulder (that’s MOS or DOS), all we see is some sort of random word game. She answers each comment from her friends with LOL, or a smiley face, or one of the dozens of animated drawings at her fingertips. To me, this isn’t communication.
December 11th, 2008 at 7:15 am
You raise some very good points Adam. I proof read several times before publishing, but sometimes it’s easy to become blind to an error and allow it to creep through.
One of the advantages of online publishing is the ability to go back and correct errors after publication. This is no reason to become sloppy and ignore the proof reading stage though.
There is, of course, another source of lazy usage – txt msgs.
December 11th, 2008 at 7:36 am
I have my English Major wife proofread my work! I admit I am horrible when it comes to spelling but I know enough to check first. I think the real problem is the education system itself, how many college grads are funtionaly illliterate? I may mispell a word here and there but I understand the comprehension and structure of the words I am trying to learn to craft. As a society we should stop appealing to the lowest common denominator.
**Please note the wife is sleeping and I did not see a spell check feature, so there could be mispellings!**
December 11th, 2008 at 11:50 am
My wife and I have been saying the same thing for years. Great article!!! Oh, and Grant, you misspelled like.
December 12th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Great article, and all the points you’ve mentioned, are absolutely important to remember! Thanks Adam…
December 13th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Hey, you know this is so true, man. Writers really should watch their punctuation and stuff. This is cool.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I agree with everything you are saying. To be very honest, I get appalled sometimes, not only a writing technique on blogs, but in articles on web sites. I am old school writer and am very uncomfortable putting something out until I know the grammar and spelling are correct. The problem with a lot of these blogs is writers think that posting something on a blog or web site makes you a writer. Sorry, but WRONG! Go to any bonafide writing school, publisher or agent, and they will tell you writing on blogs, Unless you are hired and paid for it, does NOT constitute writing experience. There’s nothing wrong with posting blogs and comments on web sites, but there is a HUGE gap between someone that does that and someone who is considered an established, published writer. Well done on the article.
January 28th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
You make an excellent point. I have noticed a similar phenomenon, one where websites (including Triond) encourage writing in general, not so much good writing. Anyone can get publish online, regardless of writing skill. This creates a negative ethos appeal, where the credibility of all online works is dubious in the reader’s eyes. On the other hand it encourages frequent writing, an undeniable plus. Again, great article.
, (a comma and subordinate conjunction is redundant).
BTW you may consider revising your own work
February 11th, 2009 at 1:12 am
Hey Adam, great article! I agree with your points in some ways, but in others I differ. I believe(as others have noted) that we can’t blame the tools for the problem, but the educational system of our society and just plain laziness. I had been using instant messengers and posting work online on websites for years before I ever even heard of a “blog”. I have never become lazy in my writing habits, other than in lack of inspiration. IMHO(which I would never type in an article, just as I would never have used a 4-letter word within earshot of my Grandmother) that it’s all a matter of education, tact and self-discipline.
-M