While I’ve been ill I haven’t managed to do any work; either my own or for my clients. For a while there I was so ill I didn’t even care. Then, as my health began to improve, I was frustrated but still unable to think long enough, or clearly enough, to do anything. In the past week I’ve managed to do a little reading. Unlike my usual style of devouring a book in a matter of hours, one tome lasted for several days. I put it down to the phenomenon of falling asleep after every chapter. This is no comment on the quality of the story-teller; I fell asleep after getting dressed, after feeding the dog, after going to the toilet… However – put it down to not-well-therefore-crabby – I became more and more irked by the wanton recklessness with which basic punctuation and grammatical construction was tackled.
Now I don’t blame the author (entirely). I don’t know about other countries but here in Australia, beginning in the 70’s, education went through a mini-dark ages, during which spelling, grammar, punctuation and legibility were all sacrificed on the altar of “free expression”. Teachers, like me, who dared to correct the scrawled mess that was supposed to pass as a story, were accused of repressing the child’s creativity. What a load of cr*p! If a builder doesn’t bother to lay any foundations, ignores the need for support beams and doesn’t use any bolts, screws or hinges because “they ruin the design”, people wouldn’t say: “He’s just expressing himself.” They’d complain that he’s a shonky builder and should lose his license. And, rightly so.
Of course, this attitude rested on the ridiculous premise that “everyone can write”. It’s true that everyone can learn to shape letters, form them into words and place them in sentences. But, not everyone can craft a great story. Not everyone is a great novelist. That idea makes as much sense as saying that everyone can be a physicist, or a brain surgeon, or a theoretical mathematician. It’s true that many writers use the technique of writing the first draft without any correction – just letting the story flow. However, they then go back and edit and shape the “creative splurge” to form it into a story with shape, definition, clarity and meaning. For this they need the “boring” tools of grammar, punctuation and spelling.
No, I don’t entirely blame the author, although it’s not hard these days to educate oneself about these things. What really burns me up is that the publisher of said annoying tome is a well-known publishing house. How did they let this stuff get through? Where’s the quality control? I know many companies have got rid of their editors, to save money, (Don’t get me started!) but they can still request the author to submit their manuscript to a private editor. I know that some great writers break the rules, but they do so knowing what rules they’re breaking and why. It’s obvious in their work that they know what they’re doing. It’s also obvious when a person doesn’t know what they’re doing. The frustrating thing is that it needn’t be that way.
Okay, I feel a little better for having vented. I know I’m a little bit obsessed with this stuff, but literature is important. Science might represent the brains in the human body and theology the spirit, but the creative arts represent the soul. It expresses the emotions, the personality, the essence of what it means to be human. I think it should be expressed in a way that is clear, beautiful and profound.
I’m back to work next week, if only for a few hours a day. I miss wielding my red pen. (It’s so satisfying!)
thank you Wendy for those articulate insights. When I look over the essays my children have to complete for their homework assignments, it becomes abundantly clear that grammer, and punctuation have been significantly overlooked in the Australian educational system. I am not claiming that my children should be brilliant writers but rather that they should be able to express themselves in a reasonably articulate manner so that anyone would be able to pick up their train of thought, not just have to guess what the point is that they are trying to make.
Well said, Maureen! That’s it in a nutshell.
Me and this article, sitintg in a tree, L-E-A-R-N-I-N-G!
Glad you’re feeling a bit better.
Thanks, Lauri. I’m slowly improving. 🙂
Thanks Wendy, I was beginning to think no one cares how they write or even spell any more. In some notes and emails I receive, the spelling is something to be desired. Do they correct spelling in schools these days? Or are they still saying that it damages the child’s confidence?
The new generation of teachers is made up of those who grew up without formal English teaching. So students and teachers alike are all stumbling around in the dark. I’m watching my wife, just a year or two away from retirement, trying to rectify the situation in her private school. She is writing a style guide which teachers are supposed to follow in writing reports. This is important because reports are the main way they communicate with parents. They had many complaints from parents about the bad quality of the writing. I asked why didn’t they just give the teachers an inservice course on basic English. The sort that some of us got in primary school. But today’s teachers are either unwilling or unable to handle this. So the school now has the reports proofread by an outside consultant before sending them out. The have odd rules, such as a ban on semicolons (because no one can use them correctly).
Perhaps, Ken, basic English should be a required subject at Teacher’s College! How can we make it happen?
Pamela, I think Ken’s comment explains a great deal. In some cases it’s a case of the blind leading the blind!
Hi Wendy, I just discovered your blog. It looks fantastic! And I’m so pleased to have somewhere I can find out what’s happening in your life (I was wondering and worrying). It almost goes without saying that I am entirely in support of your views on editing and the state of grammar and punctuation in Australia 🙂
I probably won’t visit very often (it’s so easy to have what little writing/reading time I get chewed up by the world of fb, etc) but now I know where to come when I want an update.
God bless.
Thanks, Claire. I only post once a week so, hopefully, I don’t take too much time out of a person’s busy schedule. Feel free to visit any time. 🙂
Anon.: “A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it.”
Here’s an item which shows why formal language is going to be a lost cause in schools. Part of the job of proofreading reports at my wife’s school is now in the hands of a young teacher who had complained in an email that “I should of been given the job”.
The idea of proofreading reports does not come from the teachers. They are perfectly happy with whatever they write. It comes from the school’s marketing manager who was getting complaints from parents. After all, they pay good money for a quality education at a private school. So it’s necessary to fake the fact that teachers can all use standard English.
The blind leading the blind!