gategrrl

I was reading through the Sunday paper, and it had a business supplement, and, while I'm not big into business, I tend to think that like football, business has many metaphors that apply to daily life. This article happened to be in this supplement. It's half the column, it's an excerpt, and while it's aimed at business/technical writers, the points he makes are right for ALL writers. I had a good laugh reading this: I also realized I'm guilty of at least two of these ten "thoughts"! Oops. Darn.

Ten Thoughts to Help You Be a Bad Writer
By Stephen Wilbers, columnist

Here's an overview:
If you're like many people who are determined to write poorly, put these assumptions into practice:

*I already know everything I need to know about writing and language. To look up a rule or a new word is a waste of my precious time.

*As long as the reader understands my meaning, it doesn't matter if I make a few errors. Who cares if I spell "its" with or without an apostrophe?

*Even I wanted to fill some of the gaps in my educational background, it's too hard to find the resources that will help me. Using the internet or visiting www.wilbers.com would take too much time and energy.

*Once a writer achieves minimal competence, there's nothing more to learn. Writing is something you learn as a young person; after that, you never have to give it another thought.

*Either you have the gift for language or you don't. Only those who are gifted can become really good writers.

*I'm good with numbers; therefore, I cannot be good with language.

*It's more important to meet every deadline than to fool around with editing.

*My success will be judged on quantity of writing, not quality.

*Whatever pours out quickly is my best writing. Revising those inspired words is unnecessary.

*I never ask anyone to edit my writing. I'm the person who knows best. If an editor presumes to alter so much as a comma in my text, I take it as a personal failure.

One word of caution: Don't expect immediate results. Those ten assumptions work best when embraced for a lifetime.

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Article excerpt from the Business Monday section of the Monday, May 29th 2006 edition of The Orange County Register.
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Wilber offers training seminars in effective business writing. Write to him at PO Box 19114, Minneapolis, MS 55419 or send email to wilbe004@umn.edu. You can visit his webpage at www.wilbers.com.