An E-Newsletter of Profitable Advice about Writing
To Increase Your Personal and Professional Success
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| February 2010
Volume III, Issue 2
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"The Write Stuff!"
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| Writing, Ghostwriting, Editing & Publishing Services
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My office is conveniently located on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. |
But if you don't have a boat,
send me an e-mail.
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When Is Bad Writing Good?
This month I'll tell you about an incident where bad writing was actually a good thing, at least for me. My story also has a useful point for you, too.
Also in this issue, you'll get to take our famous grammar quiz.
Finally, I just have to tell you about a happy occasion in our family. Today is Sarah's and my 31st wedding anniversary. On that sunny February day in 1979, the temperature in Peterborough, NH, was 10 degrees and the snow was 3 feet deep. Here we are leaving the church.
 "That was a long time ago!" our 15-year-old daughter said this morning. Yes, but the years have flown by. God brought us together, and He has sustained our marriage, as we asked Him to do on that day. He is so faithful and good! Enjoy reading about writing!
Michael J. Dowling
Professional Writer, Ghostwriter, Editor & Publisher |
When is Bad Writing Good?
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About two weeks ago, the following e-mail arrived in my inbox:
Hello!
The courier company was not
able to deliver your parcel by your address.
Cause: Error in shipping
address.
You may pickup the parcel at
our post office personaly.
Please attention!
The shipping label is
attached to this e-mail.
Print this label to get this
package at our post office.
Please do not reply to this
e-mail, it is an unmonitored mailbox!
Thank you,
DHL Global Forwarding
Services.
Well, I know better than to open attachments from unknown sources. But in addition to that, this e-mail looked especially suspicious. It was poorly written and contained three grammatical errors.
The errors are noted in bold italics below.
Hello!
The courier company was not
able to deliver your parcel by your address.
Cause: Error in shipping
address.
You may pickup the parcel at
our post office personaly.
Please attention!
The shipping label is
attached to this e-mail.
Print this label to get this
package at our post office.
Please do not reply to this
e-mail, it is an unmonitored mailbox!
Thank you,
DHL Global Forwarding
Services.
Obviously, DHL
wouldn't make those mistakes. "Pickup"
should be two words, "personally" is misspelled, and the last sentence
contains a comma splice (aka a "run-on sentence").
Just to be certain, I called DHL customer service. Sure enough, the recording said the e-mail is a hoax and the attachment contains a virus.
This is one of those rare instances where poor grammar is good. It kept me from getting a virus!
One moral of this story is to beware of suspicious e-mails, this one in particular. But there's a more important lesson to be learned from this story.
Your business communications are making an impression - good or bad - on readers, just like that e-mail made an impression on me.
People will probably never say anything to you, but you can be sure they're judging you based on your writing style and grammatical correctness.
If the quality of your writing is poor, what do you suppose people will assume about the quality of your products?
If your written communications, including e-mails, contain errors and demonstrate a lack of attention to detail, what do you think people will assume about your intelligence and your professionalism?
Don't underestimate the importance of good writing!
P.S. Now, this is remarkable!
Just this minute I received another e-mail from the same sender! I'm not making this up. I paused from writing this newsletter to check my inbox and found this:
Dear customer!
The courier service was not able to deliver your parcel at your address.
Cause: Mistake in address
You may pickup the parcel at our post office personally.
The delivery advice is attached to this e-mail.
Print this label to get this package at our post office.
Please do not reply to this e-mail, it is an unmonitored mailbox!
Thank you,
DHL Delivery Services.
As you can see, the sender is learning from his mistakes. He no longer misspells "personally"!
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Help Your Friends and Colleagues Become More Successful. Send them this issue of "The Write Stuff!"
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| Our Readers Are Writing!
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After last month's issue, I received the following insightful correction from Peter Bowerman, author of The Well-Fed Writer and other excellent books about writing, publishing, and book promotion:
One small thing. In your grammar quiz, I think I might have
found another error you didn't catch.... ;)
2. To set short
and long-term goals
If I'm not mistaken, it should be "To set short-
and long-term goals," with a trailing hyphen after short since,
if the sentence included only short-term, it'd indeed be hyphenated...
Keep up the good work!
You are indeed correct, Peter. Thanks for the correction!
Here's a photo of Peter with the cover of his latest book.
 
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Our Famous Grammar Quiz
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Both of these sentences are punctuated correctly. What circumstances make that possible?
My brother, Tom, is a doctor. My sister Mary is a lawyer. Answer at the bottom of this newsletter. If you get this one right, let me know. I'd like to give you an award!
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| Read These Helpful White Papers |
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Answer to Grammar Quiz
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I have only one brother, but I have more than one sister.
In the first sentence, since I have only one brother, it's not necessary for me to say that Tom is my brother. The phrase "my brother" is what's called a "nonrestrictive appositive," becasue it does not add any essential information to the sentence. Therefore it needs to be set off by commas.
On the other hand, since I have more than one sister, it's essential for me to cite Mary's name. Otherwise you wouldn't know which sister I was referring to. In the second case, "my sister" is what's called a restrictive appositive, and it should not be set off by commas.
If you answered this month's quiz correctly, you are indeed a master of the English language!
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Michael J Dowling ~ Writer ~ Editor ~ Ghostwriter ~ Publisher
133 Worthing Road, St. Simons Island, GA 31522
Phone: 912.230.5051 Fax: 912.634.5777
E-mail: MJD@MichaelJDowling.com Website: www.MichaelJDowling.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljdowling
Clear, concise, creative, and convincing writing and editing to enable individuals and organizations
to accomplish their goals and increase their visibility, credibility, and profitability.
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