In my article, "Where's the Quality in Your Article?", I pointed out four kinds of article writers.
I thought it would be wise to follow up with tips.
The third type of article writer I named is the Regurgitating Ink Slinger.
The abridged version of this writer is "hurry up and get it out there".
They have plenty to say, most of them even have decent information and pointers.
The drawback is trying to read it.
Even if the reader is brave enough to wade through the muck, the message is tarnished.
Do you have a message for me? The Ink Slinger usually has worthwhile information to offer.
There are just so many errors that it's buried.
Throbbing eyeballs shouldn't be the reward for wanting to read what you have to say.
If it takes too much effort to understand your article; you, as the writer, have failed.
I used to feel like I was just regurgitating words when I was a journalist.
The tight deadlines didn't give me much time to be super creative.
I won awards despite the vomiting, but it wasn't very fun.
I was just spitting out words as fast as I could, desperately hoping I captured some kind of feeling for my readers.
I did, however, edit and have my copy edited.
My readers didn't have to wade through a minefield full of poor punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors.
When a writer fails to provide a clear path for their readers, it's downright insulting.
A few errors are acceptable.
But sentence after sentence? It's a slap in the face.
Take time for a bath Whether the reason is lack of education or plain old apathy, there's no valid reason for a writer to offend a reader with poor grammar, misspellings, tons of typos, inconsistencies of style and acronym use, fragmented sentences, or paltry punctuation.
Even under deadlines, self-imposed or otherwise, a writer must bathe his copy.
Read it through, correct the errors, take the time to present your information to your readers with the respect they deserve.
In return, you'll get the respect you deserve for your expertise and willingness to share it.
Most word programs have spell and grammar checkers.
They aren't one hundred percent perfect, but they'll at least cover most of it.
You still have to read your copy and make sure you didn't write something like, "I walked done to the store" or "I have a pane in my side".
(That would really hurt!) Spell check won't catch that, but you can.
Even your e-mailer probably has a spell checker.
Yes, you should be that fastidious.
Not only does it reflect your respect for your reader, it reflects how much you respect yourself and what you have to say.
Resources galore! Finding spelling and thesauruses is pretty easy online.
When you're not close to any reference books you might own, using these handy resources is simple and quick.
Dictionary.
com is not just a spelling resource, it has a thesaurus, an encyclopedia, a combined all reference, and web resources.
It cites several sources for the word you're looking up, too.
There's also the tried and true guru, Merriam-Webster, at m-w.
com.
For grammar and punctuation, I like The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation found at grammarbook.
com.
Everything is easy to find and complete.
There are even some quizzes to test your assumed prowess.
As for books, every writer should have their own copy of Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style", and at least one dictionary and thesaurus in their possession.
A good grammar book would be wise.
I like Anne Stilman's "Grammatically Correct".
I also recommend Lynne Truss's "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" for punctuation.
For writing in general, and I've mentioned this before, "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser is the most practical and worthwhile book on writing I've ever encountered.
And of course, there are the stylebooks.
Associated Press Stylebook for newspapers and most magazines.
I also recommend this style use for retail website descriptions.
Modern Language Association or MLA style is used for scholarly work.
Chicago Manual Style is used for basically everything else.
You can find all these references online, too.
As you can see, there are many, many resources available.
If you fit the mold of Regurgitating Ink Slinger, it would behoove you to start using them for your and your reader's sake.