Re: Introduction to the list

From: Kevin Legault <kevin.legault_at_gnb.ca>
Date: Wed 16 Feb 2005 10:28:42 -0600

Brian wrote:

>We should be concise. There is far too much dross to read already. So it is
>good to void unnecessary repetition. In the above, you don't need to say
>both egotistical and vanity, likewise, you don't need to say 'we' as well as
>'our' and 'I'. Don't use many examples where one will do - though, in this
>case, I used two to emphasise the point ;)
>
>We should avoid idiosyncrasies in punctuation. For example unique,
>egotistical, vanity, empathy, impersonal and inclusive in the above text do
>not need to be in quotation marks.
>
>I think we all can benefit from being taken to task regularly about our
>writing. Much of what we read on the web is very bad.

Hi Brian,

I just threw in a quick example to exaggerate the point. The point that
I am trying to make is that too many companies are more concerned with
the "I" or "We" approach than they are with the "you" and "your." The
empathy approach can help writers to be more customer focussed. I do
not understand how you can challenge this concept. I understand that you
might not like my example (and I do agree that it sounds somewhat
tired), but how can you argue against the use of empathy and inclusion?

As far as the use of double quotations, they are quite acceptable to be
used in this manner. Had I had my rich text format set up with my email
program, I would have used bold or italics to make the text stand out.
A lot of people use single quotations as in your example; however, they
should only be used when you are quoting a quote within a quote, not for
emphasizing a word. At least that is "one" of the things I learned while
I earned my three university degrees in English and communications.

Using the word "dross" is an example of being dross: over inflated and
self-indulgent. How many people in this group have ever even heard the
word "dross" used in a sentence? How many people have ever used the word
in a sentence? This example helps to make my point: understanding your
audience and writing at a level that is appropriate for understanding is
crucial. Many newspapers are written at a grade six to grade eight
level. Why? Because the newspapers understand the audience and write
using an appropriate level for understanding.

P.S. Thanks for the welcome Brian. No hard feelings. I love playing
the devil's advocate. I am just passionate about the subject of writing.
 I guess we can agree to disagree :)





Received on Wed Feb 16 2005 - 10:28:42 CST