write well when you write
Does it bother you when someone is introduced to you by your first name and a few seconds later that person addresses you by the wrong name? Tom instead of Tim? Or June instead of Jane? And then, in an obvious attempt to memorize her name, i.e. the wrong name, does that person repeat the mistake several more times?
While most of us are too polite—or too shy—to correct that person, the fact that they keep making a mistake can make you want to shake them by the shoulders and say, “Hey, can’t you get it right?”
Being on the receiving end of a written document riddled with errors, no matter what kind or from whom, can have the same effect: “Hey, can’t you get it right?”
There’s no excuse for sloppy grammar, punctuation, or spelling. Reasons, maybe. But no apologies. Nothing can and does not excuse such errors.
The only reason I’ve bumped into it more often seems to originate with members of the under-40 crowd. When it comes to correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules, I think if they were taught, those rules were rarely enforced.
Forgive me if it sounds like I’m picking on a generation under 40, that’s not my intention, especially since it’s not their fault. But let me share with you one of the countless true stories I’ve heard that support that belief.
About 20 years ago, as a high school sophomore, a young man came home one day, proud as a peacock, with a science paper on which, at the top of the page, in red ink, his teacher had written and circled a big “A”. Beneath that circled “A” the teacher had written “Great job!”
He and his parents, both friends of mine, knew that an “A” in science was not an easy achievement. Certainly not from this particular teacher who had a reputation for being demanding. Science, after all, is a pretty precise field of study.
The young man’s father, also a writer, proudly began to read his son’s “A” exam. He then instinctively did something, something he shouldn’t have done. He began to mentally mark spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in his son’s work. When he finished the first page, he looked at his son and asked, “How can this be an ‘A’ paper with nine errors on one page?”
The son, unsurprisingly, responded to his father defensively: “Because that doesn’t make any difference.”
Puzzled, the father asked “Why not?” to which his son replied, “Because my science teacher doesn’t care about spelling or any of that other stuff. That,” he said, pointing to the paper in his father’s hand, “is a science paper, and I got all of it.” The science”. Go to the right.”
Regardless of whether you’re under or over 40, life in the real world isn’t all that forgiving. Everything you write in the real world is a reflection of who you are, what you know and what your values are, what you are capable of doing and being. That is particularly true in the real world of business.
While sloppy grammar, spelling, and punctuation may be missed by a friend reading an informal letter or email you’ve written, your business letters won’t. Such errors are sometimes known to be “fatal” because they have changed the original intent of the document.
Errors are particularly significant in emails you write because emails can take on a life of their own. They are often sent to people you may not have met—in fact, you may never meet—people who, based on your misspelled email, form a lasting opinion about you, perhaps even decide your future.
The bottom line is that no matter which side of 40 you’re on, if you’re going to write, whatever you write, write well. Or should I say “write correctly?”