Culture and Context:
Writing: The good, the bad and the operatic
By Susan Miller
Published on November 3, 2005 - 03:50 AM
A new survey claims that 65% of the respondents spend from 1-3 hours per day reading and writing emails, with 40% "wasting" 30 minutes to 3 hours reading "ineffectively" written emails. No surprise then that 80% of those surveyed deem email writing skills are extremely or very important to the effectiveness of doing their jobs.
Here’s another: writing activities account for an average of 37% of the typical professional's workday in the technology industry, according to a BackDRAFT survey. More from that press release:
While overall writing activity is increasing sharply, two recent reports by the National Commission on Writing (December 2004 and July 2005) reveal that more than one-third of U.S. professionals do not possess adequate writing skills. The organization's surveys of 120 American corporations and 50 state government institutions uncovered that email has become the predominant writing activity for most business professionals, accounting for more than two work hours per day per person, or 400 hours per year.
Luckily, the need for better writing skills has been recognized by the folks that bring us the SAT test for college admission. The test now requires a 25-minute essay that reveals students' basic writing skills, organization abilities, vocabulary and maturity of thought. This writing section is lately being used by college admissions officials as a check against the college application essay, which is often edited, rewritten, and polished – and not always by the actual college applicant. The New York Times article, Detecting Tutor's Hand in Applicant's Essay, says:
When reviewing an application, colleges can easily download the test essay from the College Board, obtaining a sample of the student's unedited writing. Many colleges say they plan to do so, at least in cases where there are questions about a student's writing aptitude.
In a survey of 374 top colleges and universities conducted by Kaplan, the test preparation company, 58 percent said they would use the SAT essay to evaluate whether students had received outside help on their application essays in cases where there appeared to be discrepancies in the applicants' writing levels. Thirteen percent said they would compare the essays for all applicants.
"What that is saying is, 'We know there are a lot of cooks in the soup on these application essays, and we want to make sure that the writing that you are able to produce on your own can keep up with that polished writing,' " said Jennifer Caran, national director for SAT and ACT programs for Kaplan.
I ran across this earlier this year: “Plain Language: A Handbook for Writers in the U.S. Federal Government� by Richard Lauchman who contends that the way people read government writing differs from the way they read a novel, a magazine article, an essay, or anything else.
And finally, the handbook for clear, concise writing is “The Elements of Style� by Strunk and White. MSNBC reports that the writers’ bible has not only been illustrated, but it has been made into a 30-minute opera. Ironically, the operatic style made much of the content difficult to hear and comprehend.
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