The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Writing
Every writer I know has trouble writing.
~ Joseph Heller
I have several pet peeves when it comes to writing for a living – misspellings, bad grammar, and improper punctuation. Sure, we all succumb to silly mistakes putting pen or pencil to paper or keyboard to screen; that’s the reason we love editors. But good editors are not always available.
So w
hat should you do then?
You should pick up a copy of the 2009 Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, the gold standard for writing and sated with the “do’s and don’ts” in writing style. Were you aware that, for example, the proper spelling of the term is “Web site?” If you weren’t, you are now.
Granted most writers do not like to be corrected. It makes us feel dumb. But I’d rather feel dumb than look stupid. What about you?
Now I don’t expect that every professional writer should know how to spell all the words in the dictionary. But even my 10-year old nephew knows the difference between “dog” and “dawg.” He can also spell “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” although I doubt he’ll ever use that word penning his thoughts.
- If you were to ask me to create an inventory of my writing pet peeves, there are five that definitely would make the short list:
- I wince when I see the inept choice of an apostrophe when you mean your, their and its and not you’re, they’re and it’s.
- I sigh when I see the unacceptable use of would of, could of, and should of, when the verb is supposed to be followed by “have.”
- I scream when I see the improper use of the words to and too, affect and effect, beside and besides, lose and loose.
- I cry when I see the unwise use of punctuation: a period, question mark, or exclamation point positioned outside the quotations.
- Further, if you wish to be paid for your writing, you should know the correct word is “remuneration,” which is spelled r-e-m-u-n-e-r-a-t-i-o-n.
I have many more pet peeves. I don’t like the dangle of a participle, the bungling of parallelism, and the clumsy misuse of i.e. v. e.g. But enough of bad spelling, grammar, and punctuation peeves. I am also peeved that I have not yet written the great American novel, the Oscar-nominated movie script, the Tony-winning play, or Peabody honors for investigative reporting.
Over the years my writing has become a blancmange of poetry and haiku, short fiction stories, and non-fiction articles combined with an array of PR materials, a few emotional love letters, stand-up comedy routines, a few emotional break-up letters, sales & marketing collateral, spec sitcom and movie scripts, and an illustrated book I co-wrote titled Real Cats Claw Their Way to the Top. I rationalize my lack of literary feats, continually reminding myself that Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Katherine Anne Porter did not publish her best-selling novel in America Ship of Fools until she was 72 years old.
Whew! I still have time for all that, and an extra few days to devour the new AP Stylebook.
If you find any misssspellings, bad gramma or incorrect puntuation, blame my editor ;-)
What sort of bad writing makes YOU cringe?
Lisa Hanock-Jasie lives in New York City. She is a Writer, blogger, and driven, astute, business- and media-savvy PR/Marcom/Social Media professional.You can follow her on Twitter.
Umm… thank god for editors!!! I tend to make the 3rd and 4th pet peeve.
My pet peeve is a little different. I hate it when writers send email or chat in internet slang. You know… write lyk dis. Even on twitter. Though thankfully the numbers are decreasing by the day.
Don’t wait till you’re 72 to write that novel. You don’t have time to wait. Start.right.now.
Hope I haven’t panicked you ;)
What an awesome article! At first I was skeptical at the solid slant that you had with the AP Stylebook (web site and website is just nit-picking, its the evolution of language!) but the points later, especially your 5 points are spot on. THAT is just bad English.
I’ve always wondered about punctuation though. They seem like tools for expression in writing (poetry and prose alike) so why do we stick to the rules, be it AP or Chicago. The web has made the breaking of these conventions a style of its own, but perhaps authors could think more about what they are using and why and make some headway, instead of ever returning to the status quo.
AP is great, though I really have to disagree with their favored spelling of “Web site.” It’s obviously only one word, and why on earth would “web” be capitalized? It’s not a city. It’s not a person’s name. In short, it’s not a proper noun, which signals to me that they’re only capitalizing it because otherwise someone might mistake The Almighty Web for something like a spider’s web. In which case my point that “website” is actually one word stands.
Pedantry aside, I would have to agree with you that many writers need the AP badly! Isn’t it embarrassing to not know the reason for using apostrophes, or the difference in meaning between “your” and “you’re”? (Oh, and sometimes the punctuation DOES go outside the quotes, like I just did.) I’ll admit that I do still find myself wondering if it’s supposed to be “effect” or “affect” sometimes, but at least I know enough to look it up and to feel that sense of guilt that I am STILL looking it up!
Love your blog, Lisa.
My pet peeve for writing (and speaking!) is the misuse and overuse of the word “myself.”
Myself is one of those words the English language can practically do without, yet you hear (and see) leaders, politicians and others using it repeatedly when they should simply be using the word “me.”
My pet peeve is when people write or say, “I feel badly”. I don’t know why, but it just drives me crazy.
A quick question: Is the Chicago Manual of Style widely used in the publishing world, or is it only used for certain publishing venues?
Matt, maybe their not good at feeling.
Sorry Lisa. I made you wince.
I have to agree with Laura that the adherence to “Web site” seems odd. Web logs became weblogs became blogs. Seems “Web site” becoming “website” should not be a travesty.
Nice article. I enjoyed it. I’m just hesitant to write too much for fear of breaking all the rules.
My pet peeve is when writers/editors come off as d-bags. I really hate that.
I think that “website” has won the usage war. Dustin makes a very good point.
Anyone have any good info on why AP style should win out over Chicago? My understanding was always that AP was the “gold standard” for journalistic writing and Chicago is favored more in the publishing/literary world?
My biggest issue I’ve always had with AP style is there comma usage in relation to “and” at the end of a list.
Everyone, I love your comments.
Samar, you gave me the push. I’m now writing that novel.
Bobby, I’m giving you creative license with your punctuation. ;-)
Laura and Dustin, I agree. Web site, Website, website, web, and site – who cares what it’s called as long as someone visits. Perhaps the new semantic Web 3.0 will give us the answer?
Matt, when people say they feel badly, just reply “Not everyone can have the touch.”
Skye, I’m gonna look into the AP v. Chicago thing and get back on that.
Doreen, me, myself, and I are pleased you like my blog. ;-)
Mine is having a list of “five” points, but it only being four points ;)
Jokes! I agree with everything you’ve mentioned. I am a maniac when it comes to correcting would of, could of, should of – I doubt that there are any grammatical mishaps that irritate me more.
Bull-et’s eye, Anna. My bad. The fifth was sans bullet (remuneration). ;-)
Here’s a good strategy for improving writing style.
Grammatical sentence openers: http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/grammar_mechanics/how-to-improve-your-writing-style-with-grammatical-sentence-openers/
i think it’s a good strategy that can be help me to improve my writing style.
i don’t think the adherence seems odd. You can post your writing in website so that everyone can see and read it.