What is style, why do we write things down, and in what ways does technology determine style?

What is style? Style is a combination of the many choices we make as we write that are usually invisible to the reader-- or should be. Most readers notice only style issues when the most common ones are violated. I agree with so many things Williams says, and I especially like the statement that if you think about all of the style principles "as you draft, you may never draft anything at all" (9).

I also agree that some rules can be broken, but I contend that some are more important than others.

A thought I had about "clarity": I remember times when students looked at me puzzled, not sure why I didn't understand exactly what they meant with the words they used in their writings. Often, the student would begin to explain, "Well, what I meant by that was ....." And the explanation was so clear and well said, I would encourage them to "just write that down." They would be concerned that it seemed too easy at that point.

Why do we write things down? I write things down most of the time because I have to. I have a message that has to be communicated to someone else. E-mail is the most-used means of the communication. I used to take time to journal, but that was just for me, not for anyone else's eyes, and I was often hesitant to write down too much; what if someone read it? So, I don't always write things down for others to read. Sometimes writing is my way to clear my head and figure out what I think about something.

In what ways does technology determine style? We are more casual with standard versus non-standard language when we use forms of delivery that are not hard copy. In the business world, I think e-mail has begun to formalize a little more, but texting is over-the-top different. My 14-yr-old daughter even "speaks" texting. I discourage it vehmently! :) We move more and more toward more casual language. We went from formal papers and letters to more casual language with e-mails, and even more casual language with texting. I also see texting making its way into e-mails, and I've heard into student papers; however, I'm not grading any right now.

Technology does determine style--style usage and style standards. I've even said in IM Messages that "spelling doesn't count in IM." It can be more "instant" if we're not concerned with spelling. So maybe technology drives us to live in a world of double-standard style conventions. What is incorrect in a more formal piece of communication will be okay in something more casual. I wish, though, that we could define (or maybe at least maintain) the lines of formal and informal; however, this will become more and more difficult (impossible?) as we "rethink the differences between speech and writing while at the same time redefining the boundaries between public and private communication" (Baron 14).

Style

Why is style important in your current and/or future workplace?

I work in a software company on the HR team. We have about 250 employees in three different offices in the US, plus we have several remote employees working out of their homes. I personally send and receive about 70 e-mails each day, and many in the company would be happy to deal with only 70. We also use IM extensively to ask and answer questions. Many of these employees spend a large portion of their days writing, but style is probably not something they think about.

There are also some employees who do not even understand "correctness." Proper grammar and usage is something to which they do not pay close attention. :) I got an e-mail a couple of weeks ago that began, "I seen that we have some jobs posted on our website." It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up as though someone just scraped their fingernails across a chalkboard. (Can you hear it?) One of my least favorite grammar faux pas is one I hear more and more often, and I fear usage (and over usage) will shape the acceptance of "correctness" on this one. I hear it every day: "I have went to.... " Ugh!

I sound like an "English teacher snob" I guess, but things like this are important to me. It's what I studied in school, and while I still make mistakes (of course) and I still have to make sure my objective/subjective usage is correct and that my pronouns agree in number, I like to be correct. It's fun to hang out in MOOs with others who can understand. :)

At work, "stylistic" issues come forth in e-mails where someone does not want to place ownership on a decision; we use passive voice, but we wouldn't call it "passive voice." Most employees probably don't know what "passive voice" is. They just don't want to state names.

Other concepts like conciseness and clarity are also important. When drafting, I often think about my audience and for some, I tell them how many questions I have an then I number those questions as well. Sometimes phrases and fragments speak better than complete sentences and well formatted paragraphs. I try to learn which employees skim and which ones really read e-mails.

I hadn't thought about these stylistic issues in my workplace before, but as I do, there are many others that I could mention. I wonder how about our communication with our clients. Are we always clear, consice, correct -- and ethical? Do employees word communications "just so" so the message is not "blatantly" unethical? Do we tell the whole story behind a situation? There are also issues of tone and levels of professionalism (or lack thereof) to consider as well. Interesting things to think about.

First post

This is my very first blog test.