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Do you use correct grammar/spelling on the Internet?
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Can anyone remember when the times were not hard, and money not scarce?
(Score: 1) by schad on Wednesday September 24 2014, @11:59AM
I agree, and I read something here or possibly on the green site that I found very insightful. It was an observation that we're becoming an illiterate society. I really do think that a lot of people are quite literally losing the ability to communicate in a written language. I know that I'm not nearly the writer that I once was. I was digging through some old boxes and found some papers I'd written in high school and college that my mom had saved. I was blown away by how good my writing was. I mean, I was using clever wordplay, my vocabulary was amazing, but none of it masked the thesis -- it was really shocking. Yes, there's a bit of selection bias (my mom wouldn't have saved my terrible stuff), but... I'm no longer capable of writing at that level. Not even occasionally. Too many years of lolcats and other memes, too many functionally-illiterate coworkers, too much TV and not enough (well-written) books...
I do try. And I think I manage to be better than average (perhaps not the average here or on other "smart" sites, though). Very far from perfect, though. It makes me a little sad. I used to be proud of my writing. Now I'm just not embarrassed by it.
(Score: 2) by Woods on Wednesday September 24 2014, @02:18PM
Mmm, yes. I know that feel. Too many internet chat messages tends to gum up the works. And now that I think about it, I instinctively started this message with memespeak, irony!
One thing I found that helps my vocabulary is playing a word game on my phone, the only game on there that I play regularly. "Spelltower" (For Android) is the name, I exclusively play in puzzle mode because it is endless, and there is no time limit, so I have a chance to think. The game gives you row by row of random letters, and you make words out of them which removes those tiles, every time you make a word it gives you a new row of tiles. If you get 12 rows high, you lose. You cannot use the same word twice, and some letters have to be in words that are 6 letters or longer. It can get tough, but I have not lost yet, I play about two hours a week and have had the same round going for several Months. The game forces you to use your vocabulary at its limit, or lose, so it keeps me up on my game.
I think this post turned into an advertisement, and I would like to apologize, but hey, free game!
(Score: 2) by mendax on Wednesday September 24 2014, @07:33PM
That's strange. I guess the difference between you and me is that I've never really stopped writing, at least not for very long. I graduated from grad school not because I was a great student but because I can write great academic papers, papers that contain the meat the profs wanted but weren't dry like so much academic schlock. I've always hated that and resolved never to emulate it. Apparently, my profs also disliked it.
Later in life I started a long correspondence relationship with a person who is now a close friend. Even though we only live 80 miles apart and have each other's phone numbers, we usually communicate via the postal service. I eventually started corresponding with prisoners and have come to know a couple very intelligent ones who appreciate a long, well-written letters that discuss intellectual endeavors that most people, inside and outside of jails and prisons, would not pay any attention to.
But I think the thing that has helped me become a better writer over the years is reading great literature. Charles Dickens, in my mind, is the great writer in the English language since Shakespeare. I would do well if I could emulate a tenth as well his writing skill in his later novels. I've learned a lot from reading his books. And, of course, there is Mark Twain, even when he is not being funny. I'm going to make an attempt to read a well-regarded translation of Tolstoy's massive War and Peace soon. I think all these things are the key to being a good writer.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday September 30 2014, @04:01PM
I agree, and I read something here or possibly on the green site that I found very insightful. It was an observation that we're becoming an illiterate society.
I don't agree. People read far more today than when I was a kid, but they don't read books and only something like 3% of us do or ever did. When I was a kid, it was easy to spot a nerd -- he had glasses on his face and a book under his arm. Few folks wore glasses then, almost everyone does these days. The reason is computers, tablets, and phones. Reading a lot at a young age causes nearsightedness, which is why so few of us wore glasses and so many do today.
Few are illiterate, but most are aliterate.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org