Will Facebookers ever learn to write?

The most recent issue of Public Relations Tactics, the trade publication of the Public Relations Association of America, contains a bit about writing that I emphatically agree with.

Tactics' "PR blotter" notes that among today's teens, e-mail is as old school as a mullet. Young people today rely almost exclusively on instant messaging, text messaging and alerts on Facebook and MySpace.

These quick and abbreviated communications media may be trendy, but they have a monumental drawback -- they don't force users to communicate in grammatically correct sentences or even in complete, complex thoughts. Instead they're electronic versions of a caveman's grunts and gestures.

The PR Blotter piece correctly points out, though, that while e-mail may be passe among teens, it still rules the workplace. That means that in the professional world, you must be able to communicate effectively with the written word, a skill that young people entering the workforce will have a hard time mastering after spending their teens texting.

So, how do you combat modern society's hi-tech assault on grammatically correct, comprehensive written communication? That's a good question. Maybe it starts with placing the same emphasis on writing in grade school and high school that's now being placed on math and science.

Have you got rhythm?

Thanks to a post on Dan Santow's Word Wise blog, I recently visited Confident Writing, a blog by Joanna Young, a Brit, who offers 10 tips on improving your writing. To second what Dan said, Joanna does a nice job with her list, though I think every writer would have a largely different one.

I particularly like Joanna's advice that we writers must avoid basic grammar mistakes, use plain everyday words and try not to "witter on" (obviously a British expression for droning on in long, meandering sentences).

The only tip on Joanna's list that I would amend is her advice to use short sentences. Yes, short sentences are key to solid, punchy, readable writing. But over-reliance on them can also make writing read woodenly.

I advise my writing students to learn how to write short sentences; too many beginning writers tend to witter on. But once they've mastered that tool, I urge them to mix in longer sentences. Blending long and short sentences gives life and rhythm to writing.

Know what to look for

I've commented recently on reading over your copy carefully before sending it, which improves your chances of catching errors. Of course I say this knowing there are those out there who couldn't care less whether their communications are cluttered with misspellings, comma splices, punctuation goofs and other flaws.

Trying to change that way of thinking may be about as successful as persuading college football to scrap the Bowl Championship Series and institute a play-off. So, for those who don't care what their copy reads like (I guess that also means that you don't care if you communicate), this post isn't for you.

For those who do care, let me get to the point. Yes, careful rereading will catch most if not all errors. And once you've made that technique a habit, the next step is to know what to look for when you're scrutinizing your copy for mistakes.

That can be a long list. But one of the chief errors that creeps into copy has to do with everyday words that sound like other words.

I'm talking about writing your when what you meant to say was you're, or their, when what you intended was they're or there. Other commonly confused pairs are its and it's, and who's and whose.

As I said the list of common errors can be lengthy and it can be different for every writer. Pay attention to the inadvertent mistakes that end up on your copy and make a point of looking for them when you inspect your text for flaws. It's hard to catch all your mistakes, I know I can't, but if you can spot and fix most of them, you're doing well.

Whoa there!

One of my favorite writing blogs is Kenneth W. Davis' "Manage Your Writing." In a recent post, Kenneth reminds us of the need to "take a few more swings" at a piece of communication before we send it.

In other words, don't hit the send button the instant after you type the last period of the last sentence of your e-mail. Don't publish your most recent blog post while your keyboard is still warm from your flying fingers.

Allowing a piece of writing to cool down -- even for a few minutes -- before sending it is an invaluable technique for spotting errors in your copy or your thinking. And if you were guilty of WWA (writing while angry), giving your writing some time to age can give you time to come to your senses and either delete the ire-filled communication you were about to send (and probably regret), or at least take out the four-letter words.

How much time should you take? As much as you can. If you only have a moment or two, then take it. Of course, the more time that elapses between first draft and sending, the more likely you are to catch and fix errors.

Get to the point in news releases

Way back in September, I criticized myself for neglecting my blog and promised to be more diligent regarding its care and feeding. But it didn't happen. I could offer the usual excuses but I won't. Like anyone who has fallen off the wagon, I'm simply going to dust myself off and clamber back on board by discussing news releases. In particular, how you should start them off.

A few weeks ago, I read a column by one PR expert who urged her readers to introduce or "lead" their news release with feature copy. In other words, instead of ripping into the meat of what information the release is intended to convey, you should, according to the expert I'm citing, look for ways to hook the reader by offering a compelling anecdote, lively description or the outcome of a relevant study. That's a feature lead, a technique used by journalists that can be incredibly effective when hammered together by a capable wordsmith. But "news releases" are not "news stories." They are not intended to entertain an audience. They're a blunt communication tool whose aim is to spark news coverage.

So my advice if you're pondering whether to start your news release with a feature lead is don't. And there's a number of reasons why I say that, most of them based on having spent years as a journalist who read thousands of news releases -- many of which were poorly written.

Reporters and editors who are scanning your news release don't want to be entertained by a feature lead. They don't care how clever or creative the news release writer is. What they want when they look at your news release – along with the dozens of others they receive every day -- is to make a simple determination: Is there anything in this news release that my readers or viewers would care to know?

The sooner you can answer that question in your release, the better. If there's nothing in your release that's of interest to the news outlet you sent it to, no amount of tarting it up with a feature lead is going to "sell" the journalist on using it. The real danger with slapping a feature lead on a news release is that if you do have actual "news" to share, an exasperated editor may give up on your news release before gleaning that fact because it's buried so deep in the copy that she'd need a pick axe to find it.

Journalists are busier now than ever, so they won't spend a lot of time trying to excavate the point of your news release. They expect it to be up top, where it's supposed to be, so put it there and vent your creative side somewhere else.

Clarity comes first

I read somewhere that you have to approach blogging like a farmer, meaning, I guess, that you must carefully tend your fields or they'll quickly become overgrown. As I survey my own back forty, as represented by this blog, I can see that the rabbits, gophers and weeds have invaded. This is my first entry in weeks and the only excuse I can offer is that I've been too busy. As an independent public relations practitioner that's a good problem to have – work piling up – but it's no way to run a blog.

So, let's get to the subject at hand – writing. Now that summer has ended, my university media writing class has resumed, and I've been spending Monday and Wednesday afternoons in front of a group of students who are eager to learn how to write. Their first efforts bear the usual problems, some of which are easy to fix. Stripping away the cliches and pointing out basic punctuation and grammar flaws, for example.

What's more difficult is teaching them to write clearly. Clarity is a problem in many people's writing, not just university students. In fact, I'd say people spend a sizable portion of every business day trying to figure out what someone else is trying to say in an e-mail, text message or report.

Removing the clutter from your writing (jargon, cliches and over-used intensifers like "very" and "really") helps. But after that, the challenge of establishing clarity becomes thornier. If you're not careful, you can craft sentences that are grammatically correct but contribute little to effective communication.

How do you teach clarity? It's difficult, I can tell you. What I advise my students and would tell anyone who's faced with a writing task is to try to cultivate the ability to see your writing as the reader sees it. You know what you're trying to say, but your readers don't. Where in your text might they take a wrong turn or slam into a wall of confusion. Ask yourself these questions and if you have even a hunch that your reader might not get your meaning, recast your copy. Break it down. Simplify it. Brevity may be the soul of wit, but clarity is the essence of understanding.

So simple a middle-aged writer can do it (or maybe not)

When it comes to technology, I feel like the Geico caveman: I understand enough to get by in today's hi-tech world, but look more closely and you can easily tell I'm a neanderthal when it comes to certain things involving computers. This blog is a good example. I'm happy with the content, but I know there are plenty of technological bells and whistles that should be added, like a blog roll.

So, until I muster the motivation to learn how to put one on here, let me list a few writing and communication blogs that I find worth reading. Maybe you will, too.

-- "My 2 cents" by public relations and communications expert David Reich offers cogent comment on marketing, media and PR. I like Dave's writing style, too.

-- Kenneth W. Davis' "Manage Your Writing" always seems to have something helpful to say on the craft. Check him out.

-- The great thing about Roy Clark's writing blog is that besides its outstanding content, it also introduces you to Poynteronline, an informative Web site that's aimed at journalists but is worth reading by anyone interested in effective communication. Take a look at Roy's post today on the art of revision.

-- Another must-see blog for me is Dan Santow's "Word Wise." Dan offers specifics on grammar, usage, punctuation and other vital topics, and he conveys them in a highly readable way.

That'll have to do until I can get that blog roll figured out.