Why Take the Time to Write Well?
In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit up front
to a long-lived fascination with the essence of writing well.
We all have
our burdens to bear.
When you explore this site you will see me address aspects of writing
that I find troublingly un-attended to, or wrongly done, or misunderstood,
or unfairly banished. Lie versus lay? Effect and affect.
For Who (eek!) the Bell Tolls. That sort of thing. No doubt there are plenty of them to
address, and you will see them springing up like mushrooms as I encounter
them and feel the inspiration to write 'em up, pardner.
But, really, is writing even important any more?
I want us to take a closer look at the way we write, because it is evolving quickly
with our increasingly technological and information-leaden lifestyle. You
may not think that writing is important to you. Think again.
Just for starters, the ability to write is somewhat correlated with that
of reading. They are two sides of the same coin. More and more we are getting
our own information-educating ourselves, in a way-through our ability to
gather and grasp written words. Certainly video images convey a lot. But
written words are and will continue to be integral to our conceptual development.
Is academic placement a reason for good writing? Places abound, you might
argue, from which you can get any kind and level of academic paper written-and
in practically any time frame-for the money. They are all over the internet,
an industry unto themselves. And thriving. I would not be shocked to learn
that there are those who get through school-and I mean every level-without
writing a single paper, just putting in orders, signing their names, and
en-foldering (neologism alert!Please be patient.
She can't help herself. ) their made-to-order
fabrications.
These paper-on-demand places may not be as capable, however, of writing
the cover letter that puts you into the "in" basket, past that tottering
pile of other cover letters and finely tuned résumés, to get that interview.
Why not?
Because good, attention-getting (compare with bad attention-getting)
cover letters have two qualities: They demonstrate comprehension of what
is needed to fulfill the job, and they convince the reader of the writer's
desire to do so.
No paper-on-demand place can do that for you.
Only you can.
