Sloppy writing is bad business

Sloppy writing can damage the company that allows it to reach the eyes of customers and prospects. Here’s a recent example:

The URL-shortening company bitly made a major change in its marketing strategy and thereby confused and irritated many of its customers.* The company not only made a confusing change, but also announced the change in sloppy, heavy-handed, arrogant language.

I was making a few notes for a blog post on this rich topic when I noticed that the prolific author Gary North had already published a piece on the topic. Dr. North describes bitly’s self-destructive behavior with his usual directness and thoroughness. Here’s a sample:

“Incoherent? Yes. That’s because a programmer wrote it. Obviously, no one beta-tested it with Ordinary Users.”

You can read the full article here.

The Takeaway: I recommend you read the article, especially if you are a programmer, engineer, or other technical person. You may not have the time to keep improving your writing; you have your own work to do. Of course. But please, at least test your writing on non-technical readers before you publish it.

See disclaimer.

*Disclosure: I am one those confused and irritated customers.

Redundant nouns (2)

One popular kind of redundancy is to unnecessarily add a generic noun after a specific noun. Here are a few examples I’ve recently seen or heard:

A website says, “In the modern world, wicker men are used for various events. The figure has been adopted for festivals as part of some neopagan-themed ceremonies, without the human sacrifice element.” (Just say “without human sacrifice.”)

A website promises to bring you “the up-to-date traffic situation.” (Just say “the up-to-date traffic.”)

And surely you’ve heard airline clerks refer to “the boarding process.” (Just say “boarding.”)

And you may have heard a real estate agent speak of “a price point.” (This is a pompous misuse of the term. Just say “a price.”)

Analysis

Some writers feel that the addition of a generic noun strengthens a specific noun. In fact, it usually weakens the specific noun. The reader wonders why that useless noun was added. He may assume ignorance or stupidity. Worse, he may suspect deception, and with good reason; for example, consider the notorious phrase “cheese food.” Why would a food company call one of its own products “cheese food” instead of “cheese”? Because it’s not cheese. Probably the company cannot legally call it cheese but would like you to think that it really is cheese.

The Takeaway: If you notice that you have added a generic noun after a specific noun, ask yourself why you did it. If you can articulate a good reason – for example, you added “helicopter” after “an Apache” because in the context the reader might incorrectly assume “an Apache” refers to a person, not a helicopter – keep the generic noun. If you cannot articulate a good reason, delete. Why create doubts about the soundness of your education or morals?

See disclaimer.

Mysterious messages (1)

Once when I ordered a book online, I received this unhelpful error message:

Server Error in '/' Application.

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Source Error:

The source code that generated this unhandled exception can only be shown when compiled in debug mode. To enable this, please follow one of the below steps, then request the URL:

1. Add a "Debug=true" directive at the top of the file that generated the error. Example:

  <%@ Page Language="C#" Debug="true" %>

or:

2) Add the following section to the configuration file of your application:

Note that this second technique will cause all files within a given application to be compiled in debug mode. The first technique will cause only that particular file to be compiled in debug mode.

Important: Running applications in debug mode does incur a memory/performance overhead. You should make sure that an application has debugging disabled before deploying into production scenario.

Stack Trace:

[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]

   _ASP.step2_aspx.__RenderfrmConquer(HtmlTextWriter __output, Control parameterContainer) +68

   System.Web.UI.Control.RenderChildren(HtmlTextWriter writer) +27

   System.Web.UI.HtmlControls.HtmlForm.RenderChildren(HtmlTextWriter writer) +44

   System.Web.UI.HtmlControls.HtmlForm.Render(HtmlTextWriter output) +397

   System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer) +243

   System.Web.UI.Control.RenderChildren(HtmlTextWriter writer) +72

   System.Web.UI.Control.Render(HtmlTextWriter writer) +7

   System.Web.UI.Control.RenderControl(HtmlTextWriter writer) +243

   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain() +1900

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:1.0.3705.209; ASP.NET Version:1.0.3705.0

Analysis: Why was this message sent to me? Clearly, it was not intended for the layman who wishes to order a book online (me).

The Takeaway: If you write copy that will be used online, test your copy before it goes online. Work with your website people and step through the very process a customer will step through. Make sure everything your customer will see is clear, relevant, and layman-readable. If the techies have inserted extraneous copy into the process, tell them to get it out of there; they are impeding the company's revenue. Think of this test as part of your proofreading.

See disclaimer.

Thanks to SJ Cuthbertson for improving the Takeaway.

A light-hearted letter from a Laramie lawyer

Once in a while, it’s OK to have a little fun with writing. Here’s a brief story of a well-written, humorous letter from a Laramie (WY) lawyer to a pompous Los Angeles lawyer. The letter made the Laramie lawyer famous.

An excerpt:

“Steve, I’ve got news – you can’t say you charge a $100,000.00 retainer fee and an additional $1,000.00 an hour without sounding pretentious. It just can’t be done. Especially when you’re writing to someone in Laramie, Wyoming where you’re considered pretentious if you wear socks to Court or drive anything fancier than a Ford Bronco.”

The Takeaway: Don’t be afraid to have a little fun with writing.

See disclaimer.

Grammar errors (2) -- common errors in the workplace

In case you missed it, yesterday The Wall Street Journal ran an article about common grammar errors in the workplace and how various companies try to prevent them. An excerpt:

“I’m shocked at the rampant illiteracy” on Twitter, says Bryan A. Garner, author of “Garner's Modern American Usage” and president of LawProse, a Dallas training and consulting firm. He has compiled a list of 30 examples of “uneducated English,” such as saying “I could care less,” instead of “I couldn't care less,” or, “He expected Helen and I to help him,” instead of “Helen and me.”

The Takeaway: This is a great time to improve your grammar. Grammar proficiency in the workplace is so low that it is easy to make yourself stand out as a diligent writer and speaker.

See disclaimer.