I like the real meaning of words. Many people use words they don’t fully understand. In speaking one can get away with using similar sounding words inappropriately. However, when writing there (their) is no such luxury.
The freedom of easily producing and displaying the printed word is now provided by the advent of cheap computers and electronic publication on the internet. This is a mixed blessing. I have witnessed several Internet exhibitions of a fledgling author’s lack of writing ability. I am not talking about attempts to be overly eloquent. What I see most is bad spelling and the use of incorrect words. I see a lot of poor sentence and paragraph structure. I am totally turned off and stop reading websites and blogs published with poor writing skills on display. I also see it a lot in so-called “User Product Reports” that appear to be written with the same low skill set of an 8 year old doing a homework assignment …
There are still a lot of good writing skills being practiced. The internet has just provided a way for the writing challenged to be read by a much larger audience. It is extremely difficult to technobabble one’s self as an educated authority or expert on a subject when writing skills reveal a lack of ability in expressing written ideas. The perception is a lack of all education. One of the highest requirements on any intellectual or managerial job description is “excellent communication skills”. Writing is at the top of that communication skill list.
The advent of “texting” with personal handheld devices could create a generation of folks who believe the message is more important than the style or structure or spelling. But it doesn’t have to. I have used such minimal abbreviated text for many years using amateur radio Morse code. It has not degenerated my ability to create full text compositions. I try hard to use proper formatting and sentence structure. Note, I did not say perfect formating. I am far from perfect.
My desire is that I write well enough that my readers are not distracted by poor writing more than the presentation of the content or message. Sometimes I use style to entertain or create a unique impression. Mostly I just like to have fun in writing. I’ll use technobabble some other day to impress, I mean express myself. 🙂