A Few Words About Your Words

Many aspiring business and other non-fiction writers are often puzzled by the question “What’s the difference between formal and informal writing?”

It’s a good question. The only problem is that there isn’t a simple and clear line between the two. The old, inflexible rules drummed into us in all those English classes won’t really hold up. And the reason is that even in formal writing there can be effective informal usage and sentences, and vice versa.

Without taking us all back to Miss Grundy’s 8th grade English class, here are a few basic guidelines that may help.

Your approach to usage will be easier if you remember one thing: there is written English, and there is spoken English. Often the problems most people have with writing arise when they confuse the two. That is, when they write as informally as they speak.

For example, one problem area concerns the use of complete sentences versus fragments (incomplete sentences). (Remember all those “Never! Never! Never!” whatevers?)

Here’s an example from Real Estate. If a Broker asked one of her salesmen, “Which property are you holding open house for this Saturday?” the agent could answer simply, “The one on Jaylee Street,” and everything would be fine. She asked a question, and the agent gave her a simple, direct answer. True, he answered with a fragment, not a complete sentence, but the two of them communicated perfectly. There was no need for him to say “The house I’m holding open this weekend is the one on Jaylee Street.”

That’s spoken English, of course, and most of us have few problems with it (unless somebody asks us to give a speech!). In a way, spoken English, as the American poet Robert Frost once wrote, is like playing tennis without a net: anything goes, nearly every shot is okay. The rules are relaxed.

But with writing, especially in business or academic writing, it’s a bit different. The net goes up, the rules are in force, and there are referees everywhere—supervisors, editors, clients—watching every who/whom, comma, and semicolon.

Does this mean that all writing has to be stuffy or formal? Not at all. (< A good fragment, by the way.) In fact, some very fine writing has the quality of spoken English. That’s what makes it so effective. But there are a few rules, and they’re really not that hard to learn.

Learn the rules. Improve on them. Then concentrate on only one thing: control your writing. Say just what you mean. Say it clearly and simply.

Yes, learn the rules. And then break them occasionally, when doing so will make your writing clearer.

And you can learn them. Always remember this: You have the ability to write well. All you need to do is discover, unlock, and release that ability. After all, you’ve been using English for how long now? 15, 20, 30, 45 years? If you did anything for that long, you’d be good at it – painting, sewing, pouring foundation, and yes, even giving speeches.