The “Editor with Attitude” Series. Ditch the bad English. Literacy is an awesome weapon.

If you really want to get noticed, use literacy as a weapon. Develop this weapon every day. If that idea bores you, well then consider the benefits.

“Literacy is sexy!”

Someone who had a significant place in my life some years ago said that to me. I agree. Most people would agree with that statement. So, read on. I may be able to improve your love life by helping you to become a better writer. In order to do that, let’s first take a look at some examples of writing that are decidedly not sexy.

–          “IN THE FUTURE I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU STOP USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. IT IS TEXTUAL SCREAMING. IT COMES ACROSS AS PROVOCATIVE, CONFRONTATIONAL AND VERY RUDE!!”

–          “In journalism, the first sentence of a story is called a lead and should cover at least three of the following questions: who, what when, where, how, and why and the second sentence that comes right after it is called the bridge and it answers the two questions that were not covered by the lead, and so that is the lead and the bridge.”*

*This sentence is painful to read because it is a run-on sentence. Generally, a run-on sentence has at least two independent clauses that are crushed together and not properly connected. Another rule of thumb in journalism is that it is a run-on sentence if it contains more than 30 words.

–          “It is definitely an error, we combine what should be two sentences with a comma.” *

*This is known as a comma-splice. I just took two independent clauses and connected them with a comma and a comma alone. When you use a comma to connect two independent clauses, make sure it is accompanied by a conjunction (and, but, for, nor, so, yet, nor).

–          “I don’t like it when James edits what I write. How dare he tell me that my grammar needs improvement? Citing sentence fragments.” *

*A sentence must have a subject, a verb, and it must express a complete thought. If it does not, then it is a sentence fragment.

–          “We do a lot of Editing and Writing for our Clients. However, there are times when to Capitalize words within a Sentence and there are times when not to do it. Our Clients call us to help them gain Publicity and help with Crisis Management. We also help them with Website Content that is done to the best possible seo and Journalism Standards.” *

*Do not capitalize products or services offered. The rules for capitalization can be complicated, but most of us know inappropriate capitalization when we see it. This example is riddled with it. Also, search engine optimization (SEO) should be capitalized because it is an acronym, and unexplained acronyms are another no-no. The Associated Press Stylebook is a worthwhile investment as a simple guide for capitalization and writing in general.

These are some of the more common errors in website copy, newsletters, or other press releases that I have observed and had to fix. It is fine to be a “do it yourselfer”, but you should have some mastery first.

I could change my own oil. When I was younger, I put my car on a ramp, slid under it, removed the plug from the oil pan, drained it, replaced the plug, removed the oil filter, and went to find a place to dispose of the used oil. Then, I replaced the filter and five quarts of fresh oil. It was messy, time consuming, and not much fun.

I could still do that. But why would I? For $39.95 I can sit in an air conditioned waiting room at an oil change place and read a magazine while the professionals do it in about 20 minutes. In fact, I would rather leave most engine maintenance to professionals. I don’t really enjoy it.

If you are not a good writer, chances are you don’t enjoy it much. If you are not a skilled writer and you write your own website content because you don’t want to hire someone to do it, your website will look amateur. But hey, you saved money! Never mind the customers you lost because, well…they lost respect for the business after looking at a page or two of a poorly written site.

Be honest with yourself. If this is not something you do well, either learn to do it well or hire someone to do it for you.

Literacy is not just the ability to read and write at the elementary school level. Literacy refers to a degree of skill of writing, clarity of thought, and familiarity with literature of all kinds. We can all be literate, but if your literacy is of higher quality, more social, professional, and yes romantic doors will open for you.

The good news is that your literacy can be improved every day. You can work out every day and improve your physical fitness. Likewise, you can improve your literacy with consistent action and enjoy it.

1.  The more active a reader you are, the better a writer you will become. That’s right. Your mind will pick up skills in expressing yourself through the written word by observing how others do it.

2.  Read something new every day. Turn off the TV and read instead, because your mind will retain information better if you read it instead of watching it. Read a newspaper or a book on something that interests you. You will become more conversant in that subject.

3.  Reading makes you more conversant. The more subjects you are conversant in, the more literate you become. The more literate you become, the more interesting you become. The more interesting you become, the more people from all backgrounds want to be around you.

4.  When reading, stop and take time to understand words, symbols, or concepts you do not understand. This is very important. If you are reading and you hit a word or symbol you do not understand, you will stop comprehending at that moment. That is why jargon and acronyms are such potent barriers to understanding. Don’t use them and ask others not to use them. Stop and look something up if you don’t understand it.

5.  If you are writing and feel the slightest bit of uncertainty about proper grammar or sentence structure, take a moment to look it up. As previously stated, the Associated Press Stylebook is a good thing to own if you write regularly. Otherwise, thanks to search engines, the information you want is never far away.

6.  Better writers become better speakers. The more you write, the better you will write, and your vocabulary will expand. The more your vocabulary expands the more polished you become at speaking.

7.  Your word processor probably has a spelling and grammar check. Use it, OK?

Become more literate every day. It won’t take long, and it will absolutely improve your life.